Hoosiers to face Irish

It's gotten to the point where the University of Notre Dame athletics department decided to give Troy Murphy his own Web site, complete with a diary, photo gallery, quotes, bio and stats -- everything an Irish fan would tear right into, short of the guy's shoe size.\nAnd why wouldn't they? The Irish boast a forward who is arguably the Big East's premiere player, a junior who made 20 double-doubles last year and who is a candidate for this year's National Player of the Year award. And tonight, the Hoosiers will make him their target when they face Notre Dame at 9 p.m. in the Joyce Center in South Bend.\nInterim head coach Mike Davis stated the obvious: The only way to stop Murphy is to defend him.\n"Troy Murphy is going to score. We'll just make it tough on him and at the same time play," Davis said. "We have to play defense on the other end. I feel we can compete against anyone right now with the concentration that we have and the effort that we're giving."\nDespite three losses before the Hoosiers' 85-63 win Saturday against Southern Illinois, defense has not been a glaring problem. IU (3-3) has held the opposition to a 39.5 field goal percentage, and the Hoosiers have not allowed more than 10 field goals in a half this season. \nBut the No.11-ranked Fighting Irish (3-0) are a high-caliber team, especially with a frontcourt including Murphy, who is averaging 28 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots per game, and forward Ryan Humphrey, who averages 17.3 points per game. Guard David Graves, who averages 15.5 points per game, could also create some problems.\n"Any time you come off a win, you've got confidence, and we're definitely going to need that going into Notre Dame," junior guard Dane Fife said. "It's going to be a tough place to play. They've got some good players. I've known Troy for about three years now and he's a tough kid. He plays hard and he knows the game."\nJunior forward Kirk Haston is expected to return to the starting lineup tonight after sitting out Saturday because of an injury to his left toe. Haston leads the Hoosiers with 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. He and freshman forward Jared Jeffries (13.7 points per game) have accounted for 41.7 percent of the team's total offense this season.\nBut like IU, Notre Dame's defense is also one of its strengths. The Fighting Irish have held their opponents to 35 percent from the field this season and give up an average of 62 points. At the same time, Notre Dame is scoring an average of 89 points and has a legitimate chance at the Big East title this season.\nThe Hoosiers have won the last five games against the Irish and have earned a 44-19 series record. Last year, it took overtime for IU to defeat Notre Dame, 81-64. But that was with former coaches Bob Knight and Matt Doherty.\nThis is the first time the two teams will meet with new coaches. Former Delaware coach Mike Brey took the position after Doherty left to coach at North Carolina. Brey has also coached as an assistant under Duke's Mike Krzyzewski.\nDavis said his team has finally come to understand his coaching style and said he's confident a win tonight is possible.\n"Notre Dame will be a tough task because right now they're really feeling good about themselves," Davis said. "But at the same time, I feel like we can go in there and get a win, I really do. If we can defend and run and our guards can take shots and knock them down, it will give us a chance"