Arizona 73, Washington State 56
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona senior wing Kevin Parrom scored a season-high 19 points, making five 3-pointers, as the 12th-ranked Wildcats held off a second-half challenge from Washington State, 73-56, at McKale Center on Saturday.
Parrom, who was scoreless in a victory over Washington on Wednesday, hit three 3-pointers in a 72-second span of the second half after the Cougars had trimmed the lead to 49-38.
When Parrom hit the last shot in his flurry, Arizona led, 58-42, with 5:55 to go and then eased in for the victory against the last-place team in the Pac-12.
Point guard Mark Lyons added 14 points for Arizona (23-4, 11-4 Pac-12), which entered Saturday tied with Oregon for the conference lead. The Ducks played at Stanford on Saturday night.
Washington State (11-17, 2-13) has lost eight consecutive games, its longest streak since losing 13 in a row during the 2002-03 season.
Parrom, who was making his third consecutive start after starting only one of the first 24 games, eclipsed his previous season high of 17 points, set against San Diego State on Dec. 25.
Against Washington State, Parrom made 6-of-7 shots, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Parrom also led Arizona in rebounding with seven.
Arizona freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski, who had scored 10 points in five games, set a career-high with 12.
Senior post Brock Motum led Washington State with 20 points and sophomore guard DaVonte Lacy added 10. The Cougars didn't help themselves at the free-throw line, making only 14-of-28.
Arizona trailed only at 2-0 and quickly took control as Parrom hit two 3-pointers within the first 81 seconds.
The Wildcats' defense was in command, holding Washington State without a field goal for exactly 10 minutes, ending when D.J. Shelton hit a jumper with 8:20 left in the half.
Arizona still led, 20-9, at the time and extended its lead from there to 35-19 at halftime.
The Wildcats pushed the advantage to 43-21 with 16:47 left, but the pace of the game slowed down to the Cougars' advantage and they struck back with a 10-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Brett Boese with 12:43 to go.
Parrom responded by driving the baseline for a reverse layup, but Washington State hung around until Parrom hit 3-pointers with 7:07 to go, 6:29 left and at the 5:55 mark.
Arizona coach Sean Miller took the opportunity to use all his depth. He played all 10 available scholarship players within the first 6:19 of the game, and eight scored in the first half.
NOTES: Washington State senior starting guard Mike Ladd, averaging 11.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, missed his fourth consecutive game because of a knee injury. ... Arizona reached the eight-million mark in all-time attendance at 40-year-old McKale Center. Arizona has drawn 8,009,738 fans in 627 games at McKale, an average of 12,775 per game, 88 percent of capacity. ... Arizona forward Brandon Ashley fouled out with 7:45 to go, finishing with seven points and three rebounds. ... Washington State's Royce Woolridge, who had averaged 16.9 points in his previous seven games, didn't make his first field goal until 14:37 remained in the game.
