SAN DIEGO ö For the first time this season the No. 1 Wildcats' final score had the same first numeral as their opponent's, as they fended off San Diego State 89-81.

This was the first time this season Arizona took to the road and to the Cox Arena. The venue was sold out for the first time in history, and it proved to be a hostile place to play.

"We were pumped for this game," said senior Rick Anderson, who put up 17 points and 10 rebounds. "We made some careless mistakes that kept them in the game, we could've blown them out."

The Wildcats (4-0) showed the depth of their ability offensively as sophomore Will Bynum, who was 50 percent from both the field and the 3-point line, had 19 points and added seven rebounds off the bench.

"Will competed really hard in every aspect of the game," head coach Lute Olson said. "He gives us a real spark when he comes off the bench."

Bynum silenced the crowd with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 17 after the Aztec's newly-eligible Evan Burns came into the game and completed an ally-oop right in front of a rowdy student section.

"Will and Rick were far and away the best players offensively," said head coach Lute Olson.

Anderson added two timely blocks that gave the Wildcats momentum.

Senior Jason Gardner was only 1-of-10 from the field and 0-of-7 from the 3-point line but did manage to hit seven of eight free throws when the Aztecs sent him to the line.

SDSU seniors Tony Bland and Deandre Moore both had 16 points for the Aztecs, and Mike Mackell had 15 in front of the 12,414 people in attendance. Mackell fouled out.

"You can see the excitement here," Olson said. "This game is going to help us, and it's really going to help them."

Senior Luke Walton's homecoming was paid special attention to from the crowd as Walton got into foul trouble early in the first half and as a result reduced his minutes. The San Diego native still had seven points and three rebounds in 24 minutes.

Luke's father Bill was the ESPN commentator for the game, and his younger brother Chris is redshirting in his junior year as an Aztec.

"It was a tremendous moment for all of our family and to see the number one team in the country come into our home town," Bill Walton said. "I couldn't be more proud right now."

Going into halftime, the Wildcats held a 44-35 lead until Walton opened the second half by draining a 3-pointer.

Bynum gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the night when he made a 3-pointer to make the score 70-51 with just over ten minutes to play.

"When we extended to a 19-point lead it was a result of the defensive pressure," Olson said. "We did some really dumb things with advantage breaks."

But the double-digit lead would not last.

On four consecutive fast breaks in the second half the Wildcats appeared to be trying to show off and as a result turned the ball over instead of converting the easy baskets.

On one play Gardner threw an alley-oop to freshman Andre Iguodala but the ball sailed over his head.

The Aztecs committed 18 turnovers and the Wildcats had nine steals, although the full court press Arizona had been toting all-season was not in effect the entire game.

"We didn't play very smart with the defensive pressure," Olson said.

The Wildcats' press had holes that the Aztecs were able to expose. SDSU out-scored UA in the second half by a score of 46-45. The Aztecs managed to make the lead smaller in the waning minutes when Bland made a 3-pointer and a slam-dunk to close the game at 89-81.

In attendance at Cox Arena were seven scouts from NBA teams including, the Los Angeles Lakers, Seattle Sonics and the Memphis Grizzlies · Arizona's next opponent, No. 2 Texas, lost to unranked Notre Dame 98-92 yesterday. The Longhorns (5-1) will likely fall in the rankings, making next Saturday's match-up no longer between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation · Former UA basketball player Travis Hanover will be eligible to play for San Diego State next Saturday when the Aztecs play at Long Beach State. Hanour was in attendance but did not play against Arizona.