DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior guard Jason Gardner drives to the basket between two defenders last night in McKale Center.

Last night, Luke Walton sat on the far end of the UA bench clad in a white button-down T-shirt and faded blue jeans, not his regular game uniform.

On this night, in the team's season- opening exhibition game, the senior preseason All-American and Sports Illustrated cover boy would just be sitting back and observing for once.

After spraining his ankle less than a week ago, Walton is stuck wearing a big black boot to keep his right ankle immobile.

For Walton, there wouldn't be any no-look passes to the freshmen flying to the basket or shooting his patented fade-away jump shot from the free- throw line over an EA Sports All-Star defender.

Final Score: 117-95 UA Leaders Player Points Rebounds Assists Hassan Adams 27 3 0 Jason Gardner 20 4 7 Channing Frye 19 6 0 Rick Anderson 14 12 5 EA Sports All Star Leaders Player Points Rebounds Assists Brett McFall 29 2 5 Tony Harvery 14 6 5 Nick Bradford 11 7 6 Game Stats   UA EA Sports Field Goals 43/80 36/81 3-pointers 12/23 15/36 Free Throws 19/22 8/10 Offensive Rebounds 20 14 Defensive Rebounds 32 19 Turnovers 25 25

The forward just had to sit back and observe, and that's what he did in the Wildcats' 117-95 victory.

What Walton did see last night was mostly positive, he said, but he was most concerned with the defense played by his teammates, who gave up 95 points, most in the second half.

"The defense wasn't too great, but it was a fun game to watch," said Walton after the game as he was getting water pumped into his boot by basketball trainer Justin Kokoskie, so the injured ankle could have some movement.

The Wildcat defense allowed guard Brett McFall to score a game-high 29 points, including a 9-of-13 performance from three-point land. At times it seemed that nobody wearing the white UA uniforms could stop the former University of Wyoming 6-footer as head coach Lute Olson continually rotated players on him.

Some of the problem with last night's defense could be attributed to the press, which Arizona used for nearly half the game last night. Players at times had trouble getting back and covering McFall on the wing, leaving him open for three-pointers.

"The press was sloppy at times and it looked good at times," Walton said. "The problem is that you have to recover and get back and cover the outside shot.

"It showed that it was the first time that we have pressed."

But Walton said a lot of what happened last night will change when the Wildcats get back their two starters who were out of action in himself and sophomore guard Salim Stoudamire, who is also bothered by a sprained ankle.

"You really can't expect two of those kids, being that is was their first game ever, to get everything right," said Walton about freshmen Andre Iguodala and Hassan Adams, who both got the starting nod.

But Iguodala and Adams did have solid games in their debut, as Adams put in a team-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting and Iguodala had 14 points and shined on the defensive end of the court.

But the freshmen shouldn't get too comfortable with the extended playing time they had last night because Walton won't be wearing jeans to games for much longer.

The senior will be able to return to practice starting Friday.