WATCH: NJ brothers share ‘magical moment’ on Notre Dame basketball court

Notre Dame's Matt Farrell, who hails from Bridgewater, was completely surprised by his older brother Bo's appearance on the court after Monday night's game.

Matt, a junior, didn't think he would see Bo until February.

"He tricked us. He tricked us all," Matt told New Jersey 101.5 after they flew to New Jersey early Tuesday morning.

Bo delivered a message on the Notre Dame jumbotron to his brother and said he was in Afghanistan. As a tearful Matt was watched with his Fightin' Irish teammates, Bo walked onto the court from the men's locker room and embraced Matt surrounded by family.

Matt said that he never suspected that his brother was actually at the game.

"I wasn't even looking at the board until I heard 'Lt. Bo Farrell' and thought it was just a message. Even just seeing that I got emotional," Matt said. "It was just pure excitement and happiness" when he saw him walk onto the court.

Bo said it took "a lot of patience" to pull off the surprise on Matt.

"It took about two months to put together. I found out I was a portion of my task force was coming home early from deployment so I reached out to the Notre Dame Athletic Department and kind of asked how we could work a surprise for Matty and my family at a game," Bo said, calling the Notre Dame athletic department and media communications "phenomenal" to work with in coming up with a plan.

"My unit was very thrilled for me," Bo said, adding that the members of task force still in Afghanistan watched. "It was truly a magical moment."

The brothers don't have any specific plans for their Christmas break.

"We're home. It's just going to be hanging out with a lot of the family. That's very important because we have a big family. That's really all I can ask for is to be around him," Matt said.

Tommy Farrell contributed to this report.