Losing games late in the season is damaging to any team in the polls. Losing at home in conference play with March Madness right around the corner can be even more painful. The WSU men's basketball team kept up with Arizona for the first 28 minutes of Saturday's game at Friel Court, but a collapse on defense and emergence from Wildcat guard Jerryd Bayless doomed the Cougars when it mattered. Arizona forward Chase Budinger totaled a team-high 22 points, Bayless had 20 – all in the second half – and Arizona knocked off the Cougars 65-55, snapping a four-game winning streak for the No. 17-ranked team in the country.

"We're upset about the game definitely," WSU guard Taylor Rochestie said. "There's no reason we're not going to be upset, because we came out and wanted to win and especially against them after they took it to us in Tucson.

"I don't think the guys feel too down, although we're going to have to learn a lot from this loss and move forward." Budinger shot 8-for-13 from the field while hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers to ignite the Arizona arsenal. The 6-foot-7 sophomore added six rebounds and four assists to help the Wildcats defeat the No. 2-ranked defense in the country. Bayless hit 6 of 9 shots in the second half after a disappointing start to Saturday's game, which left him with zero points in the first 20 minutes. "When you're on a guy with that ability, you can't lose track of him," WSU head coach Tony Bennett said. "He had his way with us in the second half and that was disappointing. It's hard to beat teams if you lose track of their best players."

The Cougars (21-6, 9-6 Pac-10 Conference) saw inspiring play early from guards Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver, who combined for 13 points in the first half. Reserve forward Caleb Forrest emerged and totaled four first-half points for WSU, which trailed at the break 24-23. However, a flurry of mistakes and miscues on the Cougars' behalf outweighed any sign of a positive performance after halftime. Center Aron Baynes mishandled a few passes, which resulted in either a turnover or missed attempt in the post for the Cougars.

Baynes' performance spanned the 16 minutes he played, leaving the Cougars without a post presence to combat Arizona center Jordan Hill. Baynes tallied three turnovers and two points in the defeat. The Wildcats took advantage of Baynes' off night and Hill hit 6 of 11 shots to finish with 13 points and nine rebounds. For the 10,288 in attendance for Saturday's game at Friel Court, they were treated to a near carbon copy of the last meeting between Arizona and WSU. The Wildcats mauled the Cougars 76-64 earlier this season in Tucson, scoring 42 points in the second half and leading by as many as 19 points to upset WSU at Lute and Bobbi Olson Court. The Wildcats (17-10, 7-7) carried over their performance against WSU on Jan. 24 into Pullman on Saturday night, and déja vu had its way with the Cougars. Arizona scorched the defense by racking up 41 points in the second half to depart the Palouse as winners of the season series. The victory also provides the Wildcats with a load of momentum after the team dropped four of its previous five games before claiming its first signature road win Saturday. One exception between the two meetings was the play of Weaver. The Wisconsin native lifted off for a meaningless dunk late in the game after the official blew his whistle, and even the free shot couldn't go down. The shot symbolized Weaver's night in a nutshell. The senior guard shot 2-of-10 from the field and turned the ball over three times in the loss. Weaver attempted six 3-pointers, but only his first try of the game hit the bottom of the net. The Cougars hit 5 of 22 3-pointers, several of which were thrown in desperation attempts to trim the Arizona lead with only a few minutes remaining. Arizona made 8 of 14 attempts from beyond the arc.

"I thought in the beginning we had some good wide-open looks, and they weren't dropping," Low said. "That's the way it goes, we've just got to keep shooting, and I know I always say that, but it's true." NOTES The Cougars drop to 9-6 in the Pac-10 with three games left in the schedule. WSU remains in third place in the conference, but the loss to Arizona takes them out of contention for an outright regular season Pac-10 title. In order to match last season's 24-6 mark, the Cougars will have to win out with victories over California, Stanford and Washington. The Cougars have dropped four home games this season, doubling their loss total from the 2006-07 season. WSU moves on to to face Stanford and California on the road this week. Two weeks separate the Cougars from postseason play, where the team may not be able to afford another performance as seen against the Wildcats on Saturday.

No Pac-10 team has ever made the NCAA tournament with a 9-9 conference record, meaning the Cougars probably need to pick up one more victory to assure themselves a spot in the "big dance."