Arizona 79, Washington State 65
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Mark Lyons scored 20 points and Solomon Hill scored 18 on a career-high six 3-point baskets -- all in the first half -- to lead eighth-ranked Arizona to a 79-65 win over Washington State on Saturday night.
Freshmen Brandon Ashley and Kaleb Tarczewski both scored 10 points for the Wildcats (19-2, 7-2 Pac-12), who moved into a first-place tie with Oregon.
Brock Motum and DaVonte Lacy led the Cougars (11-11, 2-7) with 15 points each. Royce Woolridge added 14 points, and junior forward D.J. Shelton produced the first double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) of his WSU career.
Hill, a four-year starter, capped a memorable first half with a shot from perhaps 55 feet to beat the halftime buzzer.
Hill missed his only two shot attempts of the second half (both from 3-point range) to finish the evening 6 for 11 from the field, and 6 for 10 on treys.
Arizona sank 11 of 30 3-pointers (36.7 percent), compared to 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) for Washington State. The 79 points allowed was a season high against the Cougars, who started the day ranked first in the Pac-12 with 59.6 points against per game.
WSU senior point guard Mike Ladd, who was leading the Cougars in Pac-12 scoring with 16.8 points per game, scored just two points. Three fouls limited him to 4 minutes n the first half.
Arizona raced to a 40-23 halftime lead behind the sensational outside shooting of Hill.
The Cougars, uncharacteristically sloppy, fired several passes directly to Arizona players in the early going. WSU made six turnovers in the first 7 minutes, 3 seconds, including three by Motum.
Notes: The odds were stacked heavily against Washington State. The Cougars came into the game with a 7-122 record against Top 10 teams, with 11 straight losses since a Jan. 6, 2007 win over No. 7 Arizona. ... Most spectators wore white shirts as part of a Coaches vs. Cancer promotion. ... The Cougars have not won a conference championship since 1940-41, when they lost to Wisconsin in the NCAA title game. ... The Wildcats lead the Pac-12 with 12 conference championships since joining the league (then the Pac-10) in 1978-79. ... Arizona's past two recruiting classes were ranked in the top 10 nationally.