Two lead their teams in scoring. One team's starting lineup regularly features three or four freshmen. And then there's Arizona's Jason Gardner, who might be more important to his team's success than any player for any other team.

The conference needed a boost of confidence after last season's subpar NCAA Tournament performance, in which all four teams were bounced before the Sweet 16. That's where the freshmen step in.

Who has the confidence to take over a senior- and junior-laden squad in just his second game? Stanford's Casey Jacobsen, who hit for 17 against Iowa in the Coaches vs. Cancer title game. In Madison Square Garden, no less. At one point in the second half, Jacobsen scored eight straight points to close the door on the Hawkeyes.

How about the bravado to forgo signing a national letter of intent to keep his options open, and then stepping in to take over one of the most storied programs in history? UCLA's Jason Kapono fits that bill. After two years of loaded recruiting classes not living up to potential, Steve Lavin and the Bruins have a star in Kapono.

In Ben Braun's fourth season at Cal, he's finally molded the team as he wants it rather than piecing together transfers and players left over from Todd Bozeman's teams. ShanTay Legans, Joe Shipp, Nick Vander Laan and Brian Wethers are true freshmen who have combined for 43 starts through 17 games. That foursome provides 37.7 points and 15.3 rebounds per game.

Gardner, who teams with fellow frosh Gilbert Arenas in the Wildcat backcourt, has become the nation's most indispensable player.

With Arizona down to seven scholarship players, the 'Cats can't afford to lose Gardner if they want to make a long NCAA Tournament run. Without a true backup, Gardner's minutes are mounting but his production hasn't fallen off.

Statistics through Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Player	School	Comment
Gilbert Arenas	Arizona	13.5 ppg, 2.3 spg (fifth in Pac-10)
Curtis Borchardt	Stanford	Second in Pac-10 with 2.1 bpg
Jason Gardner	Arizona	13.5 ppg, 5.3 apg (fourth in Pac-10)
Brian Jackson	Oregon State	14.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 42.3% 3s
Casey Jacobsen	Stanford	Leads team with 13.7 ppg
Jason Kapono	UCLA	Team-leading 15.3 ppg, 48.5% 3s
ShanTay Legans	California	9.0 ppg, 92.1% FT (second in Pac-10)
Shawn Redhage	Arizona State	11.7 ppg, 54.2% FG
Joe Shipp	California	Second on team with 10.5 ppg
Nick Vander Laan	California	10.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg