If you took a minute to look at the Wildcats' schedule before the season started, then realized they lost four starters from last year's Final Four team -- Loren Woods, Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright and Gilbert Arenas -- you might have expected Arizona to be 0-4 right about now.
Well, guess what? The Wildcats are 3-1 with victories against Top 25 teams Maryland, Florida and Texas. They gave a bigger, stronger, more experienced Kansas team quite a scare when Arizona hacked a 17-point lead to four not once, but twice in the second half.
Jason Gardner, who declared for the NBA Draft but wisely withdrew his name before signing with an agent, has been arguably the nation's best player -- certainly the most important to his team. He scored 34 points against Kansas and is averaging 27.0 a game. He's made nearly every big shot when needed and could be the most fearless shooter this side of Duke's Jason Williams.
Gardner has had help. Luke Walton's improvement (he's more than doubled his points and rebounding averages from last year) is as surprising as the team's early success itself and freshmen Salim Stoudamire and Will Bynum have played well beyond their years.
Oh, and Lute Olson can coach a tad.
No team has produced more Glance e-mail -- from both supporters and detracters -- than these young Wildcats. For example, Lonnie Davis from Rio Rico, Ariz., wrote:
The Arizona Wildcats' freshmen have shown that they can perform at the collegiate level and against the best teams. Jason Gardner is a true leader.
Then this from Mark Zaegel of St. Louis:
Arizona's three early upsets sit second on the list [of early season shocks] right behind the ridiculous mass of bandwagon jumpers hopping on. Don't worry. Arizona will probably spend the rest of the season on an ungraceful fall from their undeserved perch near the summit of the college basketball mountain.
Don't count on it, Mark. But Arizona may stumble again -- and soon. The Wildcats play Illinois on Tuesday and Purdue on Saturday. That's Kansas, Illinois and Purdue in a seven-day stretch. Outside of the Pac-10, Arizona will also see Michigan State, Pepperdine (hey, they beat UCLA) and Connecticut this year.
Olson's young bunch may lose as many as 10 games this year. Either way, no team in the nation is going to be more tested than the Wildcats. No team will learn more about itself.
And yes, no team should be more ready for the NCAA tournament. Would you want your team to play them?
Bad blood brewing
It's safe to say Temple's John Chaney and Cincinnati's Bob Huggins won't be exchanging Christmas cards. Chaney received a copy of a fax -- handwritten on Cincinnati letterhead bearing the initials of Bearcats' assistant coach Andy Kennedy -- that was sent to a Temple recruit bashing Chaney and his program. Chaney said the letter goes "beyond negative. It is scandalous."
Huggins did not comment on the letter, but an assistant of his said Huggins had no knowledge of the letter. The two coaches spoke on the phone Friday and Chaney said Huggins apologized and promised to "deal with it" internally.
This was just what the Temple-Cincinnati relationship needed after the Bearcats canceled a game against Temple last year because of an overbooked schedule. Temple sent Cincinnati an $85,000 bill for losses incurred because of the cancellation; Cincinnati paid the bill, then canceled a makeup game and a return trip to Temple this season.
Typical UCLA
UCLA's 85-78 loss to Pepperdine shouldn't have surprised anyone. It was just another in a long line of early season flops or lopsided nonconference losses the Bruins have suffered under Steve Lavin. This list includes:
In other depressing Bruins news, UCLA will be without freshmen point guard Cedric Bozeman for four to six weeks after he tore cartilage in his right knee.
DUNK: T.J. Ford
Texas freshman point guard has been as good as advertised. He's led the nation in assists since donning the burnt orange and white and is currently averaging 11.5 assists a game.
AIR BALL: Bernard Robinson Jr.
The Michigan forward took out his frustrations on the glass door of a fire extinguisher outside the visitor's locker room at Bowling Green after the Wolverines lost 65-59. Robinson cut his right hand in two places, requiring stitches. He's not expected to miss any games. The fire extinguisher door, however, is listed as doubtful for Monday's game against N.C.-Wilmington.
DUNK: Lower-profile, high-talent schools
Four graced the Top 25 last week, headed by Ball State at No. 16. The others were Western Kentucky at No. 17, St. Joe's at No. 19 and Marquette at No. 23. Others with a chance break through soon include Butler, Detroit and Southern Illinois. The talent gap between these teams and the power schools is closing. Quickly.
AIR BALL: Jim Boeheim Quit whining. Boeheim lashed out against his university for suspending junior guard DeShaun Williams for three games after being convicted of a DWI last summer. Boeheim's flimsy argument went like this: Student-athletes are unfairly treated because in addition to the judicial process of the university itself, the athletic department hands down addition punishment, in the this case three games. "You're punishing the team," Boehiem said. Hellllooo! The athletic department didn't punish the team, Williams did. Student-athletes are supposed to be examples, representatives of the names on the front of their jerseys. Show some accountability.
DUNK: North Carolina
Welcome to the win column. We knew the Tar Heels had it in them.
Illinois vs. Arizona at Phoenix, Tuesday, 8 p.m., FSN Granted, Maryland made Illinois look pedestrian Tuesday (Terps 76, Illini 63), but keep your eye on Illinois junior guard Blandon Ferguson. He's one of those players who ratchet up the pace and intensity of the game when he gets the ball in his hands.
Wake Forest at Kansas, Tuesday, 9 p.m., ESPN Last year about this time, the No. 3 Jayhawks strutted into Winston-Salem undefeated in seven games. They left humiliated, having been spanked 84-53. We smell redemption this time.
Temple at Duke, Wednesday, 9 p.m., ESPN2 Dare we say there's a chink developing in the Duke armor? The Blue Devils are shooting a paltry 30 percent (31-of-105) from behind the 3-point line. Temple's aggressive matchup zone invites the low-percentage, long-distance jumper. Don't be surprised if Temple ... keeps it close for awhile.
North Carolina at Kentucky, Saturday, 4 p.m., CBS Will this be a road-kill game (you may be sickened by what you see, but you look anyway)? Or will the Tar Heels' victory against Georgia Tech build some momentum? We're thinking road kill.
"It was like Bambi on ice." -- Virginia coach Pete Gillen after the Cavaliers' game against Michigan State at Richmond Coliseum was suspended and ultimately canceled because of moisture on the court resulting from the minor league ice hockey rink beneath the hardwood.
"He was getting frustrated because I got in his head and because I was talking to him. I was like, 'Come on, you've got to show me you're an All-American.' " -- Texas sophomore guard Royal Ivey about his psychological tactics against Stanford's Casey Jacobsen on Saturday. Ivey held Jacobsen to nine points on 3-of-17 shooting, breaking the All American's streak of 32 consecutive games in double figures. Texas upset No. 11 Stanford in overtime, 83-75.
"I'm excited about this team and that may sound sick to you guys because we're 0-3." -- North Carolina coach Matt Doherty after the Tar Heels lost to Indiana.
The last time Kansas defeated a Top 10 team before the Jayhawks' 105-97 victory against No. 4 Arizona on Saturday. The opponent that game: also Arizona.
Don't just sit there. Get in the game. Each week we'll ask for your
thoughts on a specific topic and publish a sample of those opinions the
following week. Last week we asked which upset has surprised you most in the early part of the 2001-02 season. Here are a few of the responses we received:
It wasn't so much Hampton beating UNC, but Davidson following it up with its own win over the Tar Heels. UNC usually retaliates after a loss. Doherty won't be around long if this keeps up. Russell W. Egbert, Sierra Vista, Ariz.
It would have to be both games that Ball State played and won in Maui. Taking down Kansas and UCLA was quite a feat. Kurt Brown, White Cloud, Mich.
Maryland over Illinois. Even though they were home, who knew the Terps would show up like that after the way they lost to Arizona?
Mike Flanagan, Farmerville, La.
Best upset? Arizona upsetting the experts. Anyone who doubted Lute needs their heads examined. Matthew O'Brien, Anchorage, Alaska
Eastern Washington over St. Joseph's. It's not the sexiest pick, but anyone who knows how many players EWU lost from last year's team (am I the only one east of the Rockies?) versus the experience of St. Joe's would consider that a major upset. Every other huge upset so far has featured winning teams with experienced returning teams. EWU lost arguably its top three players from last year's team. Amazing. Adam Glatczak, Wausau, Wis.
This
week's topic: Ten seconds left in the game, you're down by two points. Who do you want taking the shot?
Mark Button covers college basketball for CNNSI.com. "Week at a
Glance" appears each Monday during the season.
