Fifteen and 10.

It almost seems unfair to reduce Arizona forward Ben Davis to those two numbers. But night in and night out during the basketball season, those numbers are what Davis is. Fifteen points and 10 rebounds - mark it down in pen before the game, it's guaranteed.

OK, there are exceptions to that, such as against Arkansas, when the 6-foot-8, 255-pound Davis switched the numbers around. He dipped below double-digits with 9 points (something he's done only two other times this season), but grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds as Arizona downed the two-time NCAA finalists.

In a season that seems to continually have Arizona in the grip of one controversy or another, Davis has manned the middle, simply doing his job. The only sure thing you could say about the Wildcats' decision not to fly to Philadelphia to play St. Joseph's was that if Arizona made the trip, Davis would have had, well, you know.

At first, Davis' success was chalked up to starting alongside Joseph Blair, the starting center as well as leading scorer and rebounder until he was put on academic probation following the Arizona State game Jan. 10. The funny thing is that in the two games since Blair's departure, Davis has become better. He went out and had the best weekend of his career last week with a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds against Southern Cal and 15 points and 14 rebounds in a crucial win against UCLA, which propelled Arizona back into the conference race.

For his efforts, he was recognized as the Pacific 10 Conference player of the week, the first time he has won the award.

He is third on the team with 13.8 points and leads the conference with 8.9 rebounds a game. But in Pac-10 play, Davis has been unreal, averaging 17.2 points and 11.6 rebounds over the last five games.

"We saw some zones earlier in the season, but as we've entered the Pac-10 we've seen more man-to-man, and you can't stop Ben man-to-man," point guard Reggie Geary said. "He's been a big-time monster on the boards and offensively he lets the game come to him."

But to ask Davis about his success, you'd think it was just dumb luck.

"I'm just getting in situations. I'm the beneficiary more than anything," he said. "I get a lot of open shots because JB's gone. Before, he got the open shots and now

I'm getting them. It's just the matter of being in the right place at the right time."

That seems to sum up the last four years for Davis, who has attempted to find the right place for his skills and personality.

Where has Davis been the last four years? After three years of high school in Ft. Pierce, Fla., he transferred to prestigious Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, where he was the state player of the year. He moved on to Kansas in 1991, but transferred to Florida the following season. As a Gator he was suspended for violating team policy and ended up in Hutchinson (Kan.) Junior College in 1993.

It was at Hutchinson that Davis was able to show his skills. He averaged 19.9 points and 12 rebounds while leading the team to the junior college national title.

Even when he joined Arizona last year, Davis had his troubles. He was suspended from playing during the fall semester because of a credit-transfer problem. He was again ruled ineligible for alleged NCAA violations and missed the last two games of the season, against Arizona State and the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Miami (Ohio).

But this season, the dictionary definition of "journeyman" has found a home.

"I felt like I was part of the team at Florida and Kansas, but the basketball situation was just not the way I wanted it to be," Davis said. "And even last year things were not the way I wanted, but I liked Tucson so much and Coach (Lute) Olson made things so much easier for me, especially with the NCAA problems and the problems at the beginning of the year.

"It made me feel like home, knowing that you can go through that kind of stuff and everything would still be fine."

The difference a year has made for Davis has not been lost on Olson, who now more than ever has to count on his big man every night.

"I think it's a matter of he feels comfortable here, and he's really at peace with himself," Olson said. "It's a situation I feel so good about because he's such a great kid. People may question some of the things he's done in the past, but it's impossible once you've been around him not to like and respect him."

And marvel. Davis does things that at his size makes you shake your head. In one stretch at practice, Davis stepped out and hit a 3-pointer, and then drove the lane and laid in a soft, left-handed layup. He can take other big men out of the post and use his quickness and outside accuracy to be effective. Besides that, Olson has called him one of the most tenacious rebounders he's ever had here.

Perhaps it has taken Blair's suspension for Davis' importance to this team to come to light, or perhaps his value has been known all along.

"Ben's the man on the team," forward Michael Dickerson said. "Losing JB, we can play and play well, but we lose Ben and we have a lot of problems I think. Ben brings the nastiness we need."

He also brings 15 and 10.