PULLMAN, Wash. — You could hear the relief in the voices of Arizona players and interim coach Kevin O'Neill.

Desperate for a win, Chase Budinger scored 22 points and Jerryd Bayless had all 20 of his points after the half to help Arizona upset No. 17 Washington State, 65-55, last night.

"We really needed to get a win. We played badly over in Seattle the other night and had a heartbreaking loss to Stanford at home," O'Neill said, referring to a 75-66 loss at Washington on Thursday and a 67-66 loss to the Cardinal last week.

"We were focused. We played great defense and we worked hard," O'Neill said. "We put ourselves in a position to win the game and then made some free-throws down the stretch."

Budinger kept the Wildcats in the game in the first half, scoring 12 points, then Bayless exploded to seal the deal in the second.

"We all dug deep and we were all focused the last two days preparing for this game," Budinger said. "We just played hard on the defensive end."

Jordan Hill added 13 for the Wildcats (17-10, 7-7 Pac-10), who avoided a third straight loss. The Wildcats are trying to keep alive their streak of 23 straight NCAA tournament appearances.

Taylor Rochestie scored 14 points, 'Iolani alum Derrick Low added 12, and Kyle Weaver had 10 for the cold-shooting Cougars, who hit just 17-of-50 (34 percent) of their shots.

Arizona, meanwhile, hit 23 of 46 shots, including 8 of 14 3-pointers to make several runs after the Cougars came close.

Arizona swept Washington State (21-6, 9-6) in the series. The Wildcats won 76-64 in Tucson on Jan. 24.

Arizona held a 24-23 lead at the half after Weaver missed a chance to tie with seven-tenths of a second when his second free-throw clanked off the rim.

Bayless opened the second half with a runner for his first points and made two 3s. The Wildcats made an 8-2 run to take a 46-39 lead midway through the period. Washington State got within range, trailing 55-51, when Budinger hit a 3 with 2 minutes remaining and the Cougars never threatened again.

Bayless said his coach had some words with him at intermission because of bad shots during the first half, when he was 0-for-3.

"He really stepped up in the second half," Budinger said. "He hit some huge shots for us and hit free-throws down the stretch."

Washington State coach Tony Bennett was impressed by the play of Budinger and Bayless.

"That was two impressive performances," he said.

OKLAHOMA STATE 61, NO. 4 KANSAS 60

STILLWATER, Okla. — Byron Eaton scored 26 points, including one of two free throws with 12.6 seconds left to break a 60-all tie, helping the Cowboys (14-12, 5-7) knock the Jayhawks (24-3, 9-3) out of first place in the Big 12 Conference.

The Jayhawks rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to go ahead 58-54, but Oklahoma State finished strong to knock Kansas out of a first-place tie with No. 7 Texas, which beat Oklahoma, 62-45, yesterday.

NO. 5 DUKE 86, ST. JOHN'S 56

DURHAM, N.C. — Kyle Singler scored 16 points to lead four teammates in double-figure powering the Blue Devils (23-3) past the Red Storm (10-16) to snap a two-game losing streak.

Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith scored 13 points apiece for the Blue Devils, who used a 32-9 run late in the first half and cruised to their NCAA-leading 59th straight nonconference victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

NO. 6 UCLA 75, OREGON 65

LOS ANGELES — Russell Westbrook scored 16 points and the Bruins (24-3, 12-2) rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit, by ending the game with a 38-17 run to beat the Ducks (15-12, 6-9) and extended their lead in the Pac-10 to 1 1/2 games over No. 9 Stanford, which plays California today.

Kevin Love, dogged by double teams, added 15 points and 11 rebounds for his 16th double-double for the Bruins, while Darren Collison had 17 points.

NO. 7 TEXAS 62, OKLAHOMA 45

AUSTIN, Texas — D.J. Augustin scored 19 points and the Longhorns (23-4, 10-2) held the Sooners (18-9, 6-6) to a season-low point total en route to their seventh straight conference victory.

The Sooners missed their first 10 shots and fell behind 38-23 at intermission. Oklahoma scored the first basket of the second half, then missed six shots as Texas opened up a 47-27 lead and were never threatened again.

NO. 16 DRAKE 71, NO. 8 BUTLER 64

INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Young scored a career-high 25 points, including three free throws when he was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 20 seconds to go for a 67-62 lead as the visiting Bulldogs (24-3) snapped Butler's (25-3) nine-game winning streak with its first nonconference victory over a Top 25 team since 1980.

NO. 12 GEORGETOWN 73, CINCINNATI 53

WASHINGTON — Jessie Sapp scored 16 points, Austin Freeman added 13 as the Hoyas (22-4, 12-3) won their 19th straight game at the Verizon Center and moved into sole possession of first place in the Big East with a rout of the Bearcats (13-13, 8-6), who were seeking their fourth straight win but instead suffered their worst loss of the season.

VILLANOVA 67, NO. 13 CONNECTICUT 65

PHILADELPHIA — Corey Stokes and Scottie Reynolds both scored 18 points, leading the Wildcats (17-9, 7-7 Big East) to their third straight victory, while stopping a 10-game winning streak by the Huskies (21-6, 10-4), who hadn't lost since Jan. 17.

NO. 15 INDIANA 85, NORTHWESTERN 82

EVANSTON, Ill. — A day after Indiana bought out coach Kelvin Sampson's contract and players threatened to boycott, D.J. White deflected a potential go-ahead layup by Michael Thompson, then hit two free throws to make it 85-82 with 5 seconds left as the Hoosiers (23-4, 13-2 Big Ten) beat the Wildcats (7-18, 0-14).

NO. 19 MICHIGAN STATE 66, IOWA 52

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Raymar Morgan scored 16 points and the Spartans (22-5, 10-4 Big Ten) jumped to a 20-1 lead over the opening 10:20 and were never seriously threatened in beating the Hawkeyes (12-16, 5-10) to give coach Tom Izzo his 300th career win at Michigan State.

NO. 20 VANDERBILT 86, GEORGIA 74

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Shan Foster scored 29 points Alex Gordon added 23 and the Commodores (23-4, 8-4) extended their winning streak to six games and remained one game behind Kentucky for second place in the Southeastern Conference East Division with a rout of the Bulldogs (12-13, 3-9).

NEBRASKA 65, NO. 22 TEXAS A&M 59

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Sek Henry and Steve Harley each scored 11 points, and Harley made four of four free throws in the final 17 seconds as the Cornhuskers (16-9, 5-7 Big 12) beat the Aggies (20-7, 6-6) for their second straight win over a ranked team. They beat No. 24 Kansas State, 71-64, on Wednesday.

KENT STATE 65, NO. 23 SAINT MARY'S 57

MORAGA, Calif. — Al Fisher scored 28 points and Haminn Quaintance scored down low to give the Golden Flashes (23-5) the lead for good at 56-55 with 3:29 remaining in the game to hand the Gaels (23-4) their first loss in 15 home games this season in an ESPN BracketBuster game.

BAYLOR 92, NO. 24 KANSAS STATE 86

WACO, Texas — Curtis Jerrells scored 24 points and the Bears (18-8, 6-6) used a 16-7 run to take a 85-76 lead with 3:41 left in upsetting the Wildcats (18-8, 8-4), who got a Big 12 record 44 points from Michael Beasley and 31 points from fellow freshman Bill Walker. Beasley also had 13 rebounds, his 23rd double-double to break Carmelo Anthony's NCAA freshman record.

NO. 25 MARQUETTE 78, RUTGERS 48

MILWAUKEE — Lazar Hayward had 15 points to lead three teammates in double figures and the Golden Eagles (20-6, 10-5 Big East) used a 16-4 run straddling halftime to open up a 41-29 lead and never looked back in cruising past the Scarlet Knights (10-18, 2-13), who have lost seven straight.

WAC

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 74, NEVADA 49

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Randal Falker scored 13 of his game-high 17 points in the second half, leading the Salukis (16-12) to their most lopsided victory of the season with a rout of the Broncos (16-10) in an ESPN BracketBusters game. Nevada jumped out to an 8-3 lead early, but Southern Illinois led 37-22 at halftime.

NEW MEXICO STATE 80, LONG BEACH STATE 48

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Freshman Herb Pope scored 14 points, Justin Hawkins added 13 and the Aggies (16-12) won their fifth straight by rolling past the 49ers (6-20), who missed their first 14 shots from the floor and trailed 33-17 at halftime.

SAMFORD 73, LOUISIANA TECH 70

RUSTON, La. — Bryan Friday scored 20 points on 9 of 11 shooting and the host visiting Bulldogs (13-14) from Birmingham, Ala., made the final two baskets in regulation to tie at 61-61, then scored the first six points in overtime to beat the Bulldogs (4-21).

PACIFIC 84, SAN JOSE STATE 75

STOCKTON, Calif. — Chad Troyer scored a game-high 19 points, Steffan Johnson had 15 points and six assists, and the host Tigers (18-9) took a 40-34 halftime lead to beat the Spartans (12-14), who got no closer than five thereafter in an ESPNU BracketBusters game.

FRESNO STATE 76, CAL POLY 70

FRESNO, Calif. — Eddie Miller scored 25 points, Kevin Bell added 19 points and nine assists and Miller hit a 3-pointer with 2:28 left, his sixth of the game, to put the Bulldogs (13-15) ahead for good in the victory over the Mustangs (10-15).

SIENA 93, BOISE STATE 70

BOISE, Idaho — Alex Franklin had 30 points and 18 rebounds, Edwin Ubiles added 22 points and the Saints (17-10), from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, never trailed in taking a 21-9 lead in rolling past the Broncos (20-7), who closed to 48-46 early in second half, but got no closer.

UC IRVINE 69, IDAHO 55

IRVINE, Calif. — Darren Fells had 14 points and nine rebounds, Marcus McIntosh and Patrick Sanders added 13 points apiece as the Anteaters (12-14) shot 54 percent from the field in the second half to beat the Vandals (6-19), who got no closer than 43-37 after intermission.