Top 5 scoring leaders in Arizona Basketball history

Gardner quickly carved out a role with the Wildcats as a freshman behind Gilbert Arenas, Michael Wright, and Loren Woods, averaging 12.6 points per game and leading the team with 4.8 assists per game. His production dipped in Arizona's 2000-01 NCAA Championship Game berth season, finishing fifth on the team with 10.9 points per game, but he made up for it by leading the Pac-10 in made 3-pointers.

In his junior season in 2001-02, Gardner logged his career year. His 20.4 points per game led the team and he racked up 692 points, which stands as the seventh-most in a single season in program history. He attempted a Pac-10 leading 276 shots from range and buried 106 of them, also leading the conference, and bringing his career point total to 1,512 points. He was named a consensus second-team All-American for his efforts.

In his senior season, the Wildcats suffered 10 losses while Gardner regressed back to his mean. Despite Salim Stoudamire's rise, Gardner still led the team in scoring with an impressive 472 points and averaged 14.8 per game. This brought his career total to 1,984 points, just 16 points short of the illustrious 2,000-point mark. However, he still stands as the third all-time leading scorer and one of the Arizona greats.