Wednesday, November 24 Irish eyes are smiling By Dick Vitale Special to ESPN.com

The Garden will be rockin' and rolling for a pre-Thanksgiving special. The Preseason NIT has four teams playing well, ready to shine in the Big Apple, baby!

	Troy Murphy and the Irish play Arizona on Wednesday.

In Wednesday's opener, it will be Arizona against Notre Dame. You heard me right; we're not talking football, we're talking hoops! The Golden Domers of Notre Dame are making the journey to the Preseason NIT Final Four. To achieve it, the Irish did so with two quality wins.

The first took place on the road, beating the nation's sixth-ranked team, Ohio State. They did it in Columbus, making it extra special. The Buckeyes feature the best backcourt in America with Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd, but you couldn't tell that to Jimmy Dillon and Martin Inglesby. The Irish guards controlled tempo, stopped the transition game of Ohio State and forced the Buckeyes to shoot poorly. Notre Dame sparkled with a big-time "W" in Matt Doherty's debut as Irish head coach.

So far this season, there have been a number of Shock Cities. St. John's was stunned by Samford out in Albuquerque; the Red Storm beat Jimmy Tillette's team in last year's NCAA Tournament. What about Iowa shocking Connecticut at the Garden? New Mexico got beat on its home floor by Dayton. Wofford knocked off Clemson of the ACC. Holy Cross knocked off Providence of the Big East.

The early results show balance is the watchword. There is no happier guy in November so far than Doherty. He gets a trip back home to the Big Apple. He played his high school ball at Holy Trinity out on Long Island, and you can be sure he will have his share of supporters in the crowd when the Irish meet the Wildcats.

Doherty said he got goosebumps thinking about going to the Garden when his team beat a talented Siena team in the second round. That was a shootout, and Paul Hewitt has built a Siena program which makes him one of the hot coaching names across America. That's no easy W, but Notre Dame won 108-97.

It was ball control against Ohio State, and winning in transition against Siena. Troy Murphy has starred right from the opening tip. He had 21 points against Ohio State, added 31 in a brilliant performance against Siena and then set a career high with 35 points against St. Francis of Pennsylvania over the weekend.

The big kid, Murphy, also has a homecoming as he hails from Morristown, N.J.

Doherty has developed a certain chemistry and spirit in the Irish. Notre Dame will have its hands full against an Arizona team which has five starters I believe we will ultimately see in NBA uniforms. Remember, the Wildcats have the youngest backcourt of any of the top-ranked teams.

Think about their experience at guard. Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas are true freshmen, diaper dandies. Lamont Frazier is a juco transfer. Prior to last week, those three guys never played a minute at the Division I level. Yet they have shined in impressive wins over Kansas State and New Mexico State.

Those wins were not Cupcake City, especially with their second-half performance over Lou Doo's (Lou Henson's) club. New Mexico State has four starters back and played tough in the first half.

Arizona is also getting solid play off the bench from Luke Walton (yes, the son of the big redhead, Bill Walton). The younger Walton provides a passer and an inside-outside combination player. Justin Wessel has become stronger physically and provides a presence defensively at the power forward spot. Frazier has provided a spark.

Up front, Lute Olson has a special group. Michael Wright is a power-deluxe player and Loren Woods is a shot-blocker who adds a new dimension to the Arizona lineup. Woods is happy and enjoying himself in the desert. Richard Jefferson has the potential to be explosive.

This is a team to keep an eye on as Arenas has exceeded all expectations already and Gardner will be a big-time point guard.

Kentucky meets Maryland in the second game at the Garden. Last year, it was a heavyweight battle when these teams met, and Steve Francis, Obinna Ekezie, Scott Padgett are all in the NBA now. The trio of Padgett, Heshimu Evans and Wayne Turner came through big time as the Wildcats got the win. But all three are gone.

Kentucky must count on Jamal Magliore in the middle. He scored 15 big points against Utah. Saul Smith had just one turnover against the Utes. He also had four steals and seven points.

Let's not underestimate the fact that Utah played shorthanded without injured forward Hanno Möttöla. He's a big-time player who would have provided a big-time impetus for the Utes. Still, anytime you can beat a Rick Majerus-coached team, it's always a big W.

Now Kentucky meets Maryland. The challenge for Tubby Smith and company is to contain All-America Terrence Morris. We're talking about one of the most explosive players in America. The Terps were down 27-10 in their second-round game against Tulane before storming back. Maryland must rebound better against Kentucky to have a chance here.

Morris was sensational on the defensive end, blocking seven shots. He must play big and Maryland must get another brilliant performance from Juan Dixon, who has been their star with 45 points in their two wins.

It should be exciting seeing four teams playing well going to the Garden. I don't think you'll see any turkeys on Wednesday, baby!

Success in the Sunshine State
I got a chance to see Florida the other day and if you can't handle pressure, it's going to be a long, long night against the full-court, trapping defenses of the Gators. Oh, was the O-Dome rocking. I can't imagine a place being louder than the O'Connell Center. The noise and excitement created by Billy Donovan's squad was incredible.

Donnell Harvey, wow, he is a rebounding machine who bounces off the floor. Teddy Dupay shows more maturity and Michael Miller is a flat-out, big-time PTPer. Udonis Haslem has become stronger and more effective and consistent on the inside.

The real test for the Gators is this week in the Maui Invitational. Purdue and North Carolina are potential match-ups out there. It will be evaluation time quickly for Donovan and his team.

This won't be like taking cupcake classes, more like geometry and calculus.

Players hurting
Hey, what about an early-season all-injury team? Injuries are already playing a part across America. The good news is most of these guys will be back.

How would you like to coach this group? Mateen Cleaves and Courtney Alexander in the backcourt, Mark Madsen and Möttöla joining Lance Williams up front. Try Ronald Curry, Isaac Hawkins off the bench. Now Pepe Sanchez of Temple also is a candidate for this team with a sprained ankle.

Etan Thomas of Syracuse missed time with a staph infection. Luke Axtell and Carlos Boozer were hurt in the preseason but made it back for the start of the season.

It is flat-out scary, baby!