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Jefferson cleared to practice

After a seemingly endless string of bad luck, the UA men's basketball team received some positive news yesterday when sophomore forward Richard Jefferson was cleared to practice.

After an X-ray showed he has fully recovered from a fractured right foot suffered Jan. 8 at Stanford, Jefferson began practicing with the team yesterday.

Jefferson is expected to play for the Wildcats (24-4 overall, 13-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference) Thursday at Oregon State.

Jefferson, who dressed and warmed up with the team before Saturday's game against Arizona State, has been going through light workouts since Feb. 17.

"It feels good, I've been doing more and more work in practice last week," Jefferson said.

UA head coach Lute Olson said the only problem he's seen with Jefferson is his fatigue, who needed to use his asthma inhaler more than usual in drills last week.

"He'll go as full as his conditioning will allow him to do," Olson said. "My guess is if last week was any indication, I saw him struggling with his breathing."

Jefferson averaged 12.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in 15 games earlier this season, and was shooting 14-for-31 from behind the three-point line.

But with redshirt freshman forward and roommate Luke Walton stepping into the starting role and playing well, Jefferson is not guaranteed to reclaim his starting spot. Walton had a career-high 23 points and seven assists against ASU.

"I think we both earned the job, but I think Luke definitely deserves to start," Jefferson said. "He's been doing a good job and playing better and better, and only a fool would take him out right now."

Olson said the added depth gives the team flexibility, not problems.

"Luke is doing a great job, and Luke is there until someone moves him," Olson said. "Obviously, we need both of those guys playing well."

Last time Arizona went up to Oregon State, they came away with a loss and a lot less clothing.

After the Beavers stunned Arizona 60-59 in Corvallis on Jan. 23, 1999, Oregon State students swarmed the court and stole warm-ups from the Arizona bench.

While Oregon State was picked to finish fifth in the Pac-10 preseason media poll, the team hasn't lived up to expectations this year, going 12-14 overall and 4-11 in the conference, Arizona expects the Beavers' fans to be boisterous on Thursday night.

"We always know when we play, it's going to be a packed house," Olson said. "We'd be disappointed if that's not the case. We play better when it's loud and rowdy."

How big is a win against Arizona? In both Arizona losses on the road, to Southern California and LSU, students have stormed the floor after the buzzer.