ERIC M. JUKELEVICS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior UA guard Jason Gardner, left, and Arizona junior forward Luke Walton leap for a rebound amid a cadre of Washington defenders last night in McKale Center. The Wildcats led the Huskies the entire game, winning 91-82.

Walton's 17 first-half points lead Arizona to victory

It wasn't pretty, but Arizona got the job done.

The No. 11 Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and never trailed en route to a 91-82 victory over Washington last night in a game that featured 39 turnovers.

Arizona head coach Lute Olson said he was not impressed with his team's performance and said the week's practices may have had something to do with the team's lack of intensity.

"Yesterday was not a good practice," Olson said. "It was one of the worst of the year."

The Wildcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead and sustained a single-digit cushion midway through the first half, but the Huskies would not go away.

UW pulled to within two, but Arizona responded with an 11-2 run and took a 43-34 lead into the locker room.

Olson said he was not pleased with how his team let Washington stick around.

"A good team, when you get them down 13, doesn't let them back in," Olson said. "We need to get a better rotation."

Junior guard Luke Walton tallied 17 first-half points and finished the game with a team-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.

Led by sophomore Doug Wrenn's 35 points, Washington managed to keep the game reasonably close in the second half until junior guard Jason Gardner and freshman guard Salim Stoudamire hit back-to-back 3-pointers to break the game open and give Arizona a 61-45 advantage.

Arizona coasted from that point on, maintaining a double-digit lead until Wrenn put the finishing touches on his stat line with a one-handed dunk with .5 seconds left in the game.

Gardner said Arizona's intensity was not present for much of the game, but he said he still feels the team is pointed in the right direction.

"It was an ugly win, but we got the win," Gardner said.

Arizona next takes on Washington State tomorrow night at 8:30 in McKale Center.

Gardner said the matchup with WSU is important for the team's confidence.

"We need to come out and play better against Washington State," Gardner said. "We need to come out mentally focused. The main thing is every win we get is motivation for us."