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Wildcat freshman guards Arenas and Gardner combine to tear down House

By Sam Ganczaruk
State Press

Many would think guarding ASU's Eddie House is an impossible task, but don't tell that to UA guards Gilbert Arenas and Jason Gardner.

House was unable to get anything going against the two-guard combo -- they held him to just eight points of on 4 of 14 shooting, including 0 of 6 from behind the 3-point line.

ASU's almighty "House of Fire" was but a flicker in the night.

Arenas, a true freshman, executed the box-in-one defense to perfection against House.

"We were making him run and he was making us run, so he was getting tired more," Arenas said. "(And) we were just scoring and he wasn't."

Head coach Lute Olson wanted Arenas to chase House around but when Arenas got tired he traded with Gardner, another true freshman. Olson felt that if House got 30 points that it wouldn't be with a good shooting percentage.

"We came out to limit House's shots but he still got some good looks," Gardner said. "He his still a great player. It shows because he kept playing hard the whole game."

As the combo shut down House at one end of the floor they were able to dominate offensively on the other end. They combined for 40 points -- Arenas with a game-high 24 and Gardner with 16. He also dished out nine assists.

Olson also felt that "a lot had been said that this was a game we couldn't win (but) we would rather play instead of talk."

Arenas set new career highs in points (24) and tied a career high for rebounds (seven). The combo was even able to outscore the whole ASU starting lineup by 13 points and had two more assists, nine to seven.

"We just hope to come out and play hard every game," Arenas said. "The only way you can explain it is that (House) had a bad game. Just one of those games."

Sam Ganczaruk can be reached by e-mail at stgman@imap3.asu.edu.