AP060219014796(2)

If lackluster crowds and lengthy commutes prove to be the only adversity UCLA endures due to playing most of its home schedule at the Los Angeles Sports Arena this season, point guard Lazeric Jones will consider the Bruins lucky.

Jones fears that hostile fans will sometimes outnumber friendly ones since UCLA's new temporary home sits less than a mile from rival USC's campus and served as the Trojans' home arena for 47 years.

"I was talking to someone earlier about us getting booed at our own home games," Jones said. "I told my teammates before we even started practicing that we have to approach every game as an away game. We've got to stay prepared and

Some of the Pac-12's top teams this season are counting on highly regarded freshman to play key roles. Here's a closer look at the five that may make the biggest immediate impact:

Tony Wroten, G, Washington
Ht/Wt: 6-5/205
Hometown: Seattle, Wash.
Rivals Class of 2011 ranking: 14

Why he'll make an impact: Despite undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery last week, Wroten expects to return in time for Washington's exhibition opener and compete for a spot in the starting lineup. Whether he starts alongside fellow point guard Abdul Gaddy in a four-guard look or initially comes off the bench, it will be impossible to keep him out of the rotation. Wroten adds slick passing, good size and an ability to get to the rim to an already-formidable Washington backcourt. His jump shot remains a work in progress, but the coaching staff says his defensive commitment is improving.

In coach Lorenzo Romar's words: "People will be surprised with Tony Wroten, and I'm not talking about the level of basketball

AP111028136906LOS ANGELES — Instead of feeling slighted by being projected third behind UCLA and Cal in the Pac-12 preseason poll, Arizona coach Sean Miller had a very different reaction.

"There's no way in the world we're the third best team in the Pac-12," Miller said Friday at Pac-12 Media Day. "You can say that every coach says something like that, but I didn't say that last year. Hopefully I won't say that next year. But I'm saying that now. There's no chance at all that's where we are right now."

Whether Miller's pessimism is a motivational ploy or a true reflection of his feelings about his team, it's clear Arizona must improve a lot in the coming weeks if it hopes to defend its conference title. The 16th-ranked Wildcats proved that much on Thursday night when they suffered the program's first exhibition loss since 1984, a season-opening 69-68 stunner at the hands of Division II Seattle-Pacific.

They allowed Seattle-Pacific to shoot 53 percent. They were out-rebounded as a team 29-20. They

AP111028136096-1

LOS ANGELES — Cal coach Mike Montgomery is well known for his wry sense of humor, so it's no surprise he opened his conversation with reporters at Pac-12 Media Day by making light of his recent health scare.

"It's good to see everybody," he said. "And in lieu of recent circumstances, it's good to be seen."

Even being strong enough to sit behind a microphone was worth celebrating for Montgomery after the frightening news doctors gave him a month ago. The 64-year-old coach revealed Friday that he had "high-grade" bladder cancer but is now is cancer-free following surgery last week.

Montgomery emphasized he will have no physical limitations this year, adding that he plans to end his leave of absence on Monday when Cal opens the season with an exhibition game against UC San Diego at Haas Pavilion. About the only noticeable difference Montgomery said anyone will see in him after surgery is a little extra perspective about what's important in life.

"It's scary," Montgomery said. "You go

AP10032002036The undisclosed ailment that forced Billy Kennedy to take a leave of absence this month has turned out to be more serious than anyone hoped.

Texas A&M announced Thursday evening that Kennedy has been diagnosed with an early stage of Parkinson's disease, a brain disorder that can cause tremors and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. Kennedy said in a statement that he's hopeful doctors can help him manage the disease and his intention is "to return to the court as soon as it is prudent."

"At this time, I am heeding the advice of my doctors and addressing the disease and its symptoms," Kennedy said. "We have begun a long-term treatment plan and recovery. My doctors are encouraged and are telling me I will be able to come back soon."

Kennedy took a leave of absence before the start of practice two weeks ago when the pain he had been experiencing in his neck and shoulder for several months became too much for him to bear. The combination of that and his intense schedule

Even though Carmelo Anthony has validated his collegiate success by becoming one of the NBA's most explosive scorers the past eight years, the former Syracuse star did reveal on Thursday that he has at least one weakness.

It's his memory.

Anthony released a series of YouTube videos showing him answering questions from fans on Thursday, but one fan managed to stump him. The New York Knicks forward could only name four out of five members of the starting five from the 2002-03 Syracuse team that he led to an improbable national championship.

Says a chuckling Anthony, "Hakim Warrick, Craig Forth, myself, Gerry McNamara ... um ... Jeremy McNeil"

Turns out the fifth member of that lineup was not McNeil. It was actually senior guard Kueth Duany, who started all 35 games that season for the Orange and had 11 points and 4 rebounds in the national championship game against Kansas.

Before anyone ridicules Anthony too much for his gaffe, think back to your own college days for a minute. Can you

110018815Maryland already was likely to struggle in coach Mark Turgeon's debut season as a result of a lack of frontcourt talent. Now the outlook for the Terps looks even more bleak due to an injury to one of their key backcourt standouts.

The school announced Thursday morning that sophomore guard Pe'Shon Howard could miss up to 10 to 12 weeks as a result of a broken bone in his left foot. That timetable suggests the soonest Howard could return would be for the start of ACC play on Jan. 8 against NC State.

"I feel bad for Pe'Shon," Turgeon said in a statement. "He worked so hard and had a great summer and early fall. He's been practicing and playing well for us. Hopefully, we'll get a lot better by the time Pe'Shon joins the team later this year."

The absence of Howard deprives Maryland of one of its top perimeter scorers and playmakers. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged a modest 5.4 points and 3.2 assists per game as a freshman, but he was likely to play a bigger role this season with Maryland

AP111013044545

Whereas other coaches are often wary of hyping a promising freshman to the point that it will be difficult for him to live up to expectations, Louisville's Rick Pitino isn't afraid to speak his mind.

So when reporters asked him about Chane Behanan after the 6-foot-6 freshman tallied 16 points and 7 rebounds in an exhibition win over Pikeville on Wednesday night, Pitino was effusive in his praise to say the least.

"He's as good as any freshman I've coached since (Jamal) Mashburn," Pitino said. "That's about as good a statement I could possibly say. I'm very pleased with his attitude. I'm very pleased with his game, but he is a freshman and he has to learn. Believe me, that is about as high a praise I can give him."

It's understandable if Louisville fans are excited about Behanan, but it's also difficult not to view Pitino's statement with a skeptical eye.

First of all, Pitino once called underachieving big man Samardo Samuels "maybe the best freshman I've ever coached" early in