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Wildcats eye Irish

Notre Dame must have expected to have a few days off over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Witness Sunday's 73-60 win over St. Francis (Penn.), a game that the Fighting Irish (3-0) scheduled after seeing the Preseason National Invitation Tournament bracket.

When they were drawn with 1999 Final Four participant and then-No. 4 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio in the first round, Notre Dame's time in the tournament looked to be only 40 minutes long.

However, the Irish hung tight, and sophomore forward David Graves sank a last-second buzzer to stun the Buckeyes 69-67. For a school that has struggled for so long after being a consistent national power in the 1970s and 1980s, forgive head coach Matt Doherty for enjoying the win in his first game as a head coach.

"I usually have a 'Midnight Rule,' where I only allow the guys to enjoy a win until midnight," Doherty told the Associated Press. "But since we've got about a four-hour bus ride home, I guess I'll let them celebrate a little longer."

The Irish got back to work and won its second-round game at home against Siena 106-97, earning a trip to New York City to face No. 8 Arizona today at 4 p.m. MST at Madison Square Garden.

"I think we definitely need to come out and be focused," University of Arizona junior center Loren Woods said. "Notre Dame came out and beat Ohio State and beat Siena by a lot, they're going to be gunning for us, too."

Notre Dame has been led by inspiring performances by sophomore forward Troy Murphy, the 1998-99 Big East Conference Rookie of the Year. Murphy scored 21 points against Ohio State, 31 against Siena and 35 against St. Francis.

Murphy will run into fellow sophomore and teammate on the USA under-19 National Team, UA forward Michael Wright, who is coming off a career-high 24-point performance against New Mexico State.

"I'm looking real forward to it, playing against Troy Murphy, I played him in the USA trials," Wright said. "Playing at the Garden, going to New York in general. It's real exciting, I hope we win."

Murphy may be marked man, but junior guard Martin Ingelsby and Graves have stepped their games up to a higher level. Stopping Murphy alone won't be enough to win for Arizona.

"They've got Troy Murphy, and he's just been killing people," junior forward Justin Wessel said. "I watched the Ohio State game and he's putting up big numbers. But they also have a good team besides him."

The Wildcats and Irish get a chance to prove themselves in front of a national audience in one of college basketball's top preseason tournaments. If playing live on ESPN in front of color commentator Dick Vitale isn't enough, the players will be stepping onto the floor of one of the world's most famous sports arenas.

"That's like every kid's dream to go and play in Madison Square Garden," Woods said. "First of all, you go to New York, the Big Apple, then you play on the same court as (Michael) Jordan and all those (New York) Knickerbockers played on."

Freshman point guard Jason Gardner played in a high school all-star game there, but says that won't be able to compare to this one.

"It's my second time being there, but I'm pretty excited to go with this group of guys," he said. "They treat me well by being this freshman point guard, so I'm excited to go."

Meanwhile, the other freshman guard, Gilbert Arenas, says he's scared of airplanes. Once the plane lands, however, he'll be fine.

"I'm going to sleep the whole way there," Arenas said. "I've never been to New York. It's going to be cool."

Arenas probably wasn't pleased to hear that fog on the East Coast delayed the team's flight Monday, and further mechanical problems on Tuesday also hindered the team's departure to the Big Apple.

Arizona, though, has fared well at Madison Square Garden once they have arrived, winning the 1990 and 1995 Preseason NIT's in New York City.

The second semifinal, between No. 14 Kentucky and Maryland, follows the Arizona-Notre Dame game, also on ESPN.

The semifinal winners play in the championship game on Friday (7 p.m., ESPN), while the semifinal losers will play in the consolation game (4:45 p.m., no television).