EUGENE, Ore. -- This wasn't an ordinary postgame celebration for Arizona, especially for the first week in January.

This meant more to the Wildcats, specifically seniors Jason Gardner, Ricky Anderson and Luke Walton, than any other game in the Pacific-10 -- in their entire careers.

We're not kidding.

Beating Oregon 81-72 late Thursday night in Mac Court was more than a first for Gardner and Walton, and a rare second for Anderson (the last time was his true freshman season in 1999).

This was a victory over Oregon without Walton (twisted ankle), two-plus weeks after the Wildcats lost at LSU without their co-leader. It also was the day after reserve guard Will Bynum chose to stay home and is likely heading out of Tucson because of a lack of playing time. But the distractions did nothing to alter Arizona's approach.

Walton could have played, but the staff didn't want to push him. He'll probably sit out the game Saturday at Oregon State, but the staff said he will be ready to go for games next week against the Washington schools in Tucson.

"This was a big victory for my team and for me," Gardner said.

	“	He's a winner. We just tell Jason to get open. One of those 3s he hit was deep. He's such a competitor. There's no one I would rather take that shot than him. ”
		— Arizona coach Lute Olson on team leader Jason Gardner

This was a win that announced to the Pac-10 that the Wildcats are the champs that must be dethroned, not the Ducks. This was a statement to the rest of the nation that the polls mean squat. Arizona has re-emerged as the team to beat in the country with this victory, largely because the Wildcats did it without Walton.

"You should have seen the celebration," Anderson said. "Even (assistant coach Jim) Rosborough was jumping around. We were hitting him and he almost fell down a few times. This is the one place I told the guys that I would love to win before I go out my senior year. Me and Jason were so pumped for this one."

And that's why it was fitting that Gardner and Anderson took the game over after their role players had done their job on the glass and defensively. The Wildcats controlled the boards 50-28 (seven from Andre Iguodala and eight by Dennis Latimore) and did a tremendous job keeping Oregon's big man Ian Crosswhite flustered in the middle (2-for-12 inside).

But it was Gardner and Anderson who worked the two-man game to finish the Ducks off in the West Coast's version of Cameron Indoor's sweat box.

"I've never been in a hotter arena," Arizona coach Lute Olson said.

The 'Cats were down 11 six minutes into the second half when Gardner just decided to take over. He took and buried a 3-pointer immediately after Luke Ridnour buried one at the other end. Gardner's quick pop started an 11-0 run to tie the game. But Gardner wasn't just scoring. Gardner lit into Channing Frye when he took an ill-advised 15-footer too quick into the offense after Oregon's Luke Jackson put the Ducks up four again.

"What was that?" Gardner screamed at Frye. "What was that?"

Next trip down, Gardner got Anderson in position for a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one. When the game was tied at 70 with two minutes left, guess who put the Wildcats up by three with a trey? Gardner. The clincher came when Gardner was the decoy, drew two defenders, shuffled a pass off to Anderson who ball-faked two Ducks for a 3-pointer and a 76-70 lead.

"They just became the aggressor and ripped the ball out of our hands," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said.

Of course, Gardner made the two final free throws with two seconds left, screamed and pumped his fist as if to lay claim to this court, and the Pac-10.

"He's a winner," Olson said of Gardner, who scored 13 of his team-high 21 points in the second half. "We just tell Jason to get open. One of those 3s he hit was deep. He's such a competitor. There's no one I would rather take that shot than him."

It doesn't matter that this was the first game of the Pac-10 season. It was the most important game. Beating Oregon and ending its 23-game win streak in Mac Court means the Wildcats have won at the toughest place to play in the league.

"To do this without Luke, whew," Olson said. "There were a lot of guys who stepped up tonight. We're getting experience, but we don't want anymore without Lute."

The questions facing the Wildcats were:

Could they board? The answer: yes.

Could they defend? Ridnour was 5-for-11 with Salim Stoudamire defending him.

Could they force Luke Jackson to take too many shots? He was 8-for-20.

And could they win a big-time road game without Walton? Check the score.

The next hurdle comes Jan. 25 at Kansas.

And, after that, it's time to clean up at home at McKale Center in the Pac-10 and get through a few more road mines in the Bay Area and at Arizona State unless the Los Angeles schools get their act together.

"We're just hoping to sometime get our top five out there," Olson said of nagging injuries to Walton, who has played in only six of nine games because of three ankle injuries, and injuries to Stoudamire that limited him to seven of nine games. "We haven't had Stoudamire and Walton together all year long. This is a huge, huge win without Luke."

Forget about Walton's 7.8 points a game. He means more than simply numbers. He's the team's best passer and, according to Anderson, the choreographer to this team that seems to have found its identity in the Northwest after New Year's.

"Luke knows what other people are doing," Anderson said. "He sees a player ahead of everyone. A lot of guys don't realize how gifted he is because you can't teach what he does. He molds this team."

But Gardner leads the 'Cats.

Two years after a failed attempt at trying the NBA draft, Gardner is starting to make a move for national player of the year. This has nothing to do with his NBA talent, but rather his ability to win games late in tough places.

He did that for Arizona on Thursday night. He had plenty of help, but he made the biggest shots or helped create them. And for those reasons the Wildcats will become even tougher to beat, especially when Walton returns.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.