Arizona Struggles in Win

Even with Coach Dick Bennett sidelined because of flu, Washington State played his brand of deliberate, low-scoring, defensive basketball.

But it wasn’t quite enough against No. 9 Arizona.

Channing Frye made a short jump shot with 58 seconds left to lift the Wildcats to a 61-57 victory over the Cougars on Saturday at Pullman, Wash.

With Bennett, 60, sick at home, his son, assistant coach Tony Bennett, made his head coaching debut.

“It’s obvious that Dick and Tony have sold them on the value of good defense,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said after the Wildcats were held to 39% shooting and their lowest point total of the season.

Arizona (14-4, 6-3 Pac-10), coming off a shocking 96-83 loss Thursday night at Washington, came into the game averaging 88 points, tops in the nation. The Wildcats used a 45-24 edge in rebounding to win their 37th in a row over the Cougars (9-10, 3-6).

Frye finished with 17 points, nine of them in the final 13 minutes. Mustafa Shakur and Salim Stoudamire had 11 points each, and Andre Iguodala had 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Marcus Moore led Washington State with 29 points, but he was scoreless over the final 5:45 as Stoudamire began to deny him the ball.

No other player scored in double figures for the Cougars, who are last in the conference with a scoring average of 55 points a game.

Tony Bennett said his father had been sick for several days and showed up at the game looking pale. He was told by doctors to go home.

Washington 90, Arizona State 81 -- The Huskies (9-8, 4-5) won their fourth consecutive conference game and ended a losing streak at three games against the Sun Devils (8-10, 2-7).

Washington completed a sweep of the Arizona schools for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Tre Simmons, a junior college transfer, came off the bench at Seattle to score 21 points for the Huskies.

California 88, Oregon State 74 -- Amit Tamir had 20 points, including six three-point baskets, to lead the Golden Bears (9-9, 5-4) at Corvallis, Ore.

California extended its winning streak over Oregon State to 12 in a row. David Lucas had 25 points for the Beavers (8-11, 2-7), losers of five in a row.