The Associated Press

PULLMAN, Wash. € Lute Olson has his two starting guards to thank for taking away Washington State's top weapon: outside shooting.

Reggie Geary and Miles Simon held the Cougars' three perimeter shooters to 9-for-36, and the 11th-ranked Wildcats rallied in the second half for a 72-62 victory last night.

Washington State (14-10, 6-9 Pacific-10 Conference) also was held to 36 percent shooting overall and 4-for-21 from 3-point range.

''Normally, at home, that's their game (outside shooting),'' Olson said of the Cougars and their three starting guards, Donminic Ellison, Isaac Fontaine and Shamon Antrum.

''They had some good looks and I expected their shots to go down, but we also had some pretty good pressure.''

Arizona, which shot 49 percent, also exerted pressure down low.

''We can't have our perimter guys go 9-for-36,'' Cougars coach Kevin Eastman said. ''We needed to stick the ball more inside. I'll give credit to Arizona. They didn't give us a whole lot of inside looks.''

Geary scored 11 points during an early second-half run that erased the Cougars' 30-26 halftime advantage. He finished with 15 points for the Wildcats (22-5, 11-4 Pac-10), who won their fourth straight game and their 22nd in a row over the Cougars.

Washington State last beat Arizona in 1986 and suffered a 114-111, double-overtime loss last year in Pullman.

Geary hit three 3-pointers and a layup during the Wildcats' 21-7 run that opened the second half, which gave the Wildcats a 47-37 lead with 12:20 to go.

Washington State responded with a 14-3 run to close to 55-53 with 4:39 remaining, but the Cougars were forced to foul in the final minutes and could get no closer.

Joe McLean scored six points in the final two minutes, including a key 3-pointer, to seal the victory.

''It's a little frustrating,'' said Cougars forward Mark Hendrickson. ''Our expectations are so high. We expect to win these games, but it's not happening.''

Despite the loss, Washington State finished February 6-3 following a disastrous January, when the Cougars went 1-8.

Ben Davis led the Wildcats with game highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds for his conference-leading 14th double-double this season. Corey Williams added 15 points and seven rebounds and Simon finished with 11 points.

Hendrickson, Washington State's top rebounder, led the Cougars with 16 points.