Arizona wins Preseason NIT again

Coach Lute Olson's team won its third championship this decade and ran its tournament winning streak to 12 games. And the title came without much trouble for No. 8 Arizona.

After blowing out Notre Dame in the semifinals, Arizona overcame some erratic shooting and battered No. 11 Kentucky in the finals, 63-51.

"That certainly was not pretty," Olson said, after Arizona shot 39.7 percent and Kentucky managed just 35.6.

"We had a hard time getting our shots up once they had their defense set. The thing that saved us was we got a lot of opportunities on spread court situations where we could take the ball to the basket."

Getting it in the basket was another matter - for both teams.

"We didn't shoot the ball as well as I'd like," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "We had 21 turnovers and didn't rebound."

Tournament MVP Gilbert Arenas, who scored 20 points, Richard Jefferson, who had 15, and Jason Gardner, who scored 10, saved Arizona, putting together an 11-0 run that took a two-point Arizona lead to 13 points midway through the second half.

Kentucky (3-1) could not respond.

Olson knew how frustrated Smith had to be because he was frustrated, too.

"I think it's pretty obvious, and Tubby will say the same thing, that both of us have a lot of work to do," he said. "We have to do a better job of getting them to utilize screens and be harder to guard and I'm sure Tubby is saying the same thing."

The championship gave Arizona (4-0) another Preseason NIT sweep. Olson's Wildcats won the title in 1990, beating Arkansas in the final, and again in 1995 when they beat Georgetown for the championship.

Arizona has won 12 straight games in this tournament after being eliminated by Nevada-Las Vegas in the first round in 1986.

Olson reflected on winning three of these tournaments in a decade.

"I'm not sure that's going to happen very often with the competition that you face," he said. "It's a great thrill for our players to play here in Madison Square Garden."

Third place went to No. 24 Maryland (4-1), which defeated Notre Dame 72-67 after blowing almost all of an 18-point lead.

"We really had to work hard for that win and we knew we would coming into the game," coach Gary Williams said. "We're a young team and we're learning how to play, playing with a lead, having to come from behind.

"All those things are good experiences but they're new experiences for this team this year with a freshman, three sophomores and a junior."

One of the sophomores, 6-foot-8 Lonny Baxter, was the difference against Notre Dame, scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Troy Murphy scored 25 and had 11 rebounds for Notre Dame (3-2), which hit five straight 3-pointers to get back in the game.

First-year coach Matt Doherty said he thought he saw some important growth in his team.

"I think in the first half they weren't too sure if they were good enough or if they belonged," he said. "All of a sudden, they realized they did belong and boy it was fun making that run and seeing our guys execute the stuff."

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