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Saturday, March 24, 2001
Jefferson changing his label
Arizona player steps up in tourney
Matt Young
Staff Writer
SAN ANTONIO - No one's had the guts to say it to his face, but Richard Jefferson knows what people have been thinking about him.
   Richard Jefferson, a.k.a Mr. February. All potential, no results.
   In his previous two years at Arizona, Jefferson glided through the regular season looking like Arizona's top Cat - only to disappear in the tournament, taking the Wildcats with him.
   Two years ago, Jefferson was named to the All-Pac 10 freshman team, then played like a freshman in March as his team was booted in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Oklahoma.
   Last year, Jefferson continued to amaze on the court during the regular season after overcoming a foot injury, and even flirted with jumping to the NBA after his sophomore season. Then the calendar flipped to March and top-seeded Arizona got bounced in the second round of the tournament by Wisconsin. Jefferson's line in that game: 7 points, 1 rebound.
   When one of the most athletic players in the country grabs just one more rebound than a dead man against a disgustingly un-athletic Wisconsin squad, cutesy tags like Mr. February are hard to avoid.
   On Friday, Jefferson did his best to ball up that label and chunk it in the wastebasket.
   Jefferson turned in a smooth 15 points and 11 rebounds, helping Arizona survive against Mississippi 66-56 and advance to the region finals for the first time since Jefferson was in high school.
   "We've kind of been unfairly stuck with a label of a team that gets upset in the tournament, and I guess I get that same kind of label because I'm supposed to be one of the leaders on this team," Jefferson said. "If that's what people think, so be it. We're in the Elite Eight, so what are they going to say now? I think I had a pretty good game, but people will still probably talk."
   Against Mississippi, you could almost hear the talk in the Alamodome stands when Jefferson managed to score just two points in the first half and Arizona quickly fell behind by 12.
   Same old Arizona. Same old Richard Jefferson.
   The Wildcats closed the first half with an 8-0 run to go into the locker room down just 24-23. Then Jefferson came alive.
   First, Arizona's Gilbert Arenas got a steal and went the distance for a dunk, and Jefferson followed with the same combination 15 seconds later. Fast forward a few possessions, and Jefferson sliced through the lane, hung in the air, dropped in a floating bucket after being fouled and converted the three-point play. Suddenly, Arizona was up 34-30 and Jefferson was playing like he's always played in the regular season.
   "The back-to-back steals and dunks were big for us," Jefferson said. "Everyone talks about how tough Ole Miss' defense is, and I think we showed that we can play defense too, and we can get out and run and put on a little bit of a show."
   Jefferson probably didn't do anything that will make the "One Shining Moment" highlight reel at the end of the Final Four, but he did enough to earn a compliment from his usually tight-lipped coach.
   "I thought Richard played outstanding," Arizona's hard-to-please coach Lute Olson said. "People know him for his leaping ability and dunking and everything, but he played a solid game for us. He's our small forward and he grabbed 11 rebounds, so I think that says something about how hard he worked out there for us."
   When the game was over, Jefferson leaned back in his locker-room stall and took a peek at the box score. Don't think he didn't notice that he recorded his first double-double in the NCAA Tournament.
   "I mean, I'm mainly glad that we won this game as a team," Jefferson said, "but I'm not going to lie. It feels good to see those individual stats. I don't think people can talk too bad about a double-double."
   About three more double-doubles, and the Mr. February moniker will have to give way for a new tag: national champ.

Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

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