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Weekend inspires Anderson, Arizona

Maybe it took a one-game suspension.

Or just a haircut.

Whatever the reason, sophomore forward Rick Anderson played with the intensity head coach Lute Olson expects from him every night in a weekend sweep against the Oregon schools.

"I wasn't my best out there the second half, but my defense, I really stepped up my defense," Anderson said.

After missing the trip to LSU last weekend for unexplained reasons, Anderson made his presence felt in Thursday's 77-71 win over Oregon. His five points and three rebounds may seem insignificant compared to junior center Loren Woods' 16 points, 10 rebounds and NCAA record-tying 14 blocked shots, but Olson was pleased with Anderson's fire.

"I thought Rick Anderson came in the first half and gave us a big lift," Olson said. "He just needs to slow that trigger down. We're killing them inside and he comes in and boom, fires that three up."

Against the Beavers on Saturday, Anderson had 13 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Olson may have wanted him to shoot less, but five-for-nine shooting from the field may have changed his mind.

"We're just playing with more confidence, but we didn't play our best game," Anderson said. "We didn't play as good as we can. We just need to be more prepared."

If Anderson has an itchy trigger finger, the Wildcats are hoping it will rub off on redshirt freshman Luke Walton.

Walton scored 12 points against Oregon State, but the crowd and his teammates were yelling at him to shoot more. After giving in to the pressure and putting up two three-pointers that were well off the mark, Walton waited patiently for his shot and finally nailed a three from the corner towards the end of the second half.

"I shouldn't have listened to them," Walton said. "It was a good shot at first, but I waited too long."

Walton also contributed six rebounds and eight assists.

"I thought our two best players were Ricky and Luke," Olson said. "They did a good job defensively and made jobs difficult for their wings."