Arizona’s Seven Have Been Magnificent

The game ended, and Richard Jefferson jumped up and down on one foot, his crutches tossed aside, holding both arms high.

Arizona made it work again.

The headbands have been banned, everyone was on time for practice this week, and Arizona is right on schedule in the Pacific 10 race. The Wildcats are 5-0 going into Saturday’s game against USC--the only other team still unbeaten in conference after the Trojans’ overtime victory over Arizona State.

For Arizona, seven players are plenty so far.

That’s partly because Jason Gardner’s 20 points, six assists, two steals and immeasurable self-possession in Arizona’s 76-61 victory over UCLA showed he no longer should be talked about merely as one of the nation’s best freshman point guards.

“Gardner is a great player, one of the best point guards in the country--freshman, sophomore, junior,” Jefferson said. “He’s not getting as much recognition just for being a point guard.”

What Gardner and fellow freshman Gilbert Arenas didn’t take care of outside, Michael Wright powered his way to inside, with assistance from Loren Woods.

Arizona might not always look like the No. 2 team in the country as its cobbles a team together after Jefferson broke his foot against Stanford, but it’s working.

Never mind if the Washington State and Washington games were a little close for comfort, and Coach Lute Olson has had some disciplinary issues, banning headbands one game and benching his freshman backcourt for being late to practice another.

Five games into the Pac-10 season, Arizona already has won at Stanford and at UCLA.

“I thought this was a really good outing for us in terms of poise, doing the things we feel we can do and not trying to do things we don’t do well,” Olson said. “Very obviously, those two freshmen at the guard spots were just spectacular. They had a bunch of steals and for the most part used really good judgment. It’s getting better and better all the time in terms of them reading and recognizing what to do.”

The only more unlikely thing than Arizona’s continuing success with a freshman backcourt and a short bench was the sight of Bill Walton in the visitors’ locker room at Pauley Pavilion, congratulating the teammates of his son, Luke.

“I was just telling Luke, ‘I shook your dad’s hand,’ ” Arenas said.

Never wash it again?

“Maybe not,” Arenas said.

Olson had praise for Walton, who has moved into Jefferson’s starting spot.

“I thought for someone who didn’t score a point, a guy who was as critical to us as anybody with his defense on Jason Kapono was Luke Walton,” Olson said.

Next up, Arizona has to try to stop the springy legs of Jeff Trepagnier.

“We’ve got youth,” Woods said, nodding at his teammates. “We’ve got those young legs. We’ve got to keep this going into the USC game.”

They’re young, but they’ve learned quickly.

Maybe not perfectly, though.

Those headbands are still around.

“We’ve got ‘em in our lockers,” Arenas said. “We might try to sneak them out one more time.”

A GOOD ORANGE CROP

Late January, and Syracuse is the last unbeaten team--and not even ranked in the top five.

Call it the wages of a first-round NCAA tournament loss to Oklahoma State last spring, along with a February blowout loss at UCLA.

Plus, the Syracuse schedule early this season was soft as slush, without a road game until this month. The Orangemen since have won four times away from home, though not always impressively.

Still, Syracuse appears to be better than it was last season, even with much the same personnel.

“We’ve matured,” said Tony Bland, a sophomore guard from Westchester High who starts in the backcourt, along with senior Jason Hart of Inglewood High. “Last year, the whole year was a struggle. It just made us stronger.”

The sixth-ranked Orangemen (15-0) will have their measure taken soon, with a game against defending NCAA champion Connecticut on Monday. UCLA plays at Syracuse on Feb. 13.

One reason the Orangemen are better is the improved outside shooting of Bland, who recently had a 22-point performance against West Virginia, as well as reserve guards Preston Shumpert, who scored 26 against Notre Dame, and DeShaun Williams, who had 23 in an otherwise flat game against Pittsburgh.

Bland and Shumpert are each shooting better than 50%, and Shumpert--who made seven of nine three-pointers against Notre Dame--is shooting 56% from three-point range.

Hart runs a show that centers on Etan Thomas and forwards Ryan Blackwell and Damone Brown, and the Orangemen play solid zone defense.

With three seniors in the lineup, Syracuse has plenty of experience, even if some of it has been the trying kind.

“I think the tournament loss really helped us, rather than hurt us,” Bland said. “Guys on the team are still living off that loss so we won’t have to go to the tournament and lose in the first round again. That really pushes us.”

The familiar rallying cry for respect? Sure.

“I feel we’re still not getting as much respect as we deserve,” Bland said. “But we don’t really want it, because this makes us know we’ve got to keep working hard.

“We’re starting to open up eyes. People expect us to lose. They keep watching.”

ACC-EPT IT

The Atlantic Coast Conference is not a very good league right now, but the conference’s coaches seem intent on being defensive instead of trying to understand what has happened.

North Carolina State reclaimed some dignity for the ACC by threatening to upset No. 5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium before losing in overtime Wednesday.

Otherwise, it is bleak.

North Carolina, after three consecutive defeats, has lost seven games before the end of January for the first time since 1965, and the Tar Heels’ streak of 172 consecutive weeks in the Associated Press poll might be in jeopardy.

Maryland started 0-3 in the ACC before beating Wake Forest.

And those are the good teams.

The once-great ACC was No. 5 in this week’s RPI ranking conference strength, behind the Big Ten, the Pacific 10, the Big 12 and Conference USA.

It’s too early in the conference season for it to be the result of Duke’s dominance, the claim the last couple of years when Duke and North Carolina ruled the ACC.

The problem is a 74-34 nonconference record, with the latest blow a loss by Clemson to Appalachian State.

ACC coaches are still miffed about getting only three teams in last season’s NCAA tournament, but getting five or six is no birthright.

“Last year, we were No. 1 or No. 2 [in the RPI] all season and we got three teams in?” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said, questioning whether the NCAA selection committee puts much weight on conference RPI. “I think our conference is more balanced and more competitive this year than last year.”

The competition is at a lower level.

Recent RPI ratings for ACC teams: Duke (No. 5), Maryland (18), North Carolina State (20), North Carolina (29), Wake Forest (66), Virginia (67), Georgia Tech (81), Florida State (108) and Clemson (224).

QUICK SHOTS

Vanderbilt’s emergence as a top 25 team prompts a question: Did Pepperdine Coach Jan van Breda Kolff leave a year too early after a 14-15 season, or has Kevin Stallings, the new coach, made the difference? Give Stallings some credit, but mostly it’s the continued emergence of 6-11 finesse forward Dan Langhi. . . . Put the triple-double of Cincinnati’s Kenyon Martin against Memphis down with Eddie House’s 61-point game for Arizona State as one of the performances of the season. Martin had 28 points, 13 rebounds and blocked 10 shots--contributing to Memphis’ 28% shooting.