Men grab tough road win

The Associated Press Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona Wildcat Mike Bibby flys between Washington State's Cameron Johnson, left, and Chris Cosby Thursday night in Pullman, Wash. Arizona squeaked by with a win, 87-78.

Dickerson scored 28 points Thursday night to lead No. 10 Arizona to a 87-78 victory over Washington State. The win, coupled with UCLA's 87-85 overtime loss at Oregon, moved Arizona (13-4 overall, 6-2 Pacific-10 Conference) into a tie for the Pac-10 lead with the Bruins.

It was the Wildcats' 23rd consecutive victory over the Cougars, (10-9, 2-6), who last beat Arizona on Jan. 30, 1986.

Dickerson, who entered the game averaging 21 points per game, impressed both his coach and the Cougars' Kevin Eastman with his outing.

''Michael Dickerson played the best he's ever played in a Wildcats uniform,'' Arizona coach Lute Olson said. ''He played within himself. If the shot was there, he took it. And if it wasn't there, he made the plays that needed to be made.''

''We just don't have anybody who can stop Michael Dickerson,'' Eastman said. ''There were times when he just took the game flat over.''

Fontaine, a senior guard who averages 21.1 points per game, finished with 32 on 9-for-13 shooting from the field and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.

He matched basket-for-basket with Fontaine until the final minute.

''Yeah, we talked about the scoring situation (on court),'' said Dickerson, a junior forward. ''I told him he was up right now, but I'm going to try to get two more. But I couldn't.''

The Wildcats let the Cougars close within 83-76 on Fontaine's free throws with 45 seconds remaining.

Arizona's Miles Simon made 4-of-6 free throws in the final seconds to put the game away.

Arizona went on a 12-2 scoring run to open the second half, but Washington State responded with its own 9-2 streak to close within 60-49 with 14:22 to go.

Arizona's Mike Bibby and Miles Simon each finished with 11 points, while Bennett Davison added 10.

Carlos Daniel added 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Washington State while Chris Crosby came off the bench for 11 points.