Virginia Tech's Deron Washington, back, trips up Duke's Martynas Pocius. Duke won, 81-64, on Thursday night in Blacksburg, Va.

Arizona's Chase Budinger shoots for two points despite the defense of Washington State's Daven Harmeling. Arizona won, 76-64, on Thursday night in Tucson, Ariz.

TUCSON, ARIZ. ? After Arizona beat No. 6 Washington State, 76-64, on Thursday night, Wildcats sophomore Chase Budinger dismissed the notion that his team had pulled off an upset.

“I think we can beat anyone in the country right now,” said Budinger, who scored 22 points.

Freshman point guard Jerryd Bayless led Arizona with 23 points as the Wildcats blew open a close game in the second half.

The Wildcats buried the Cougars beneath a barrage of three-pointers. Arizona went 12-of-21 (57 percent) from beyond the arc, a season high for three-pointers. Budinger hit four while Bayless and Nic Wise both had three.

“We’ve had our share of ups and downs, but I’m proud of this team,” Arizona interim coach Kevin O’Neill said. “Any time you beat a top-10 team, it means you’re getting better.”

Arizona knocked off a member of the top 10 for the second time this season, the first coming in a 78-67 victory over then-No. 9 Texas A&M on Dec. 2, also in McKale Center.

Given the history between Arizona and Washington State, it’s hard to classify the Wildcats’ victory as a shock. They had, after all, beaten the Cougars 38 straight times from 1986-2005.

But Arizona’s longtime dominance in the series ended when the Cougars swept both games last season.

The Cougars came to the desert in a three-way tie for first in the conference while Arizona was mired in a three-way tie for sixth.

On Thursday night, the teams reverted to their more traditional forms. Arizona took command with a 10-2 run midway through the second half. After Jordan Hill blocked Kyle Weaver’s shot into the seats, Wise hit a pull-up three to give the Wildcats a 47-38 lead. Arizona blew the game open with a 9-0 run that made it 68-50 with 6 minutes to go.

“We were still in the game at halftime, but the floodgates opened,” Washington State coach Tony Bennett said. “It’s not like the kids are lazy or they didn’t try hard. We got exploited.”

The Wildcats (13-6, 3-3) handed Washington State its first double-digit loss since a 14-point defeat at Utah on Dec. 2, 2005.

Weaver and Aron Baynes scored 15 points each for the Cougars (16-2, 4-2). Leading scorer Derrick Low was 2-of-9 from the field and didn’t have a basket until 2:38 remained.

“The few times Derrick did get clean looks, they weren’t even close,” Bennett said. “I’ve not seen him be that off in a while.”

No. 8 UCLA 80, Oregon 75

Eugene, Ore. – Freshman Kevin Love returned to his home state and had 26 points and 18 rebounds to lead UCLA.

The Ducks (12-7, 3-4 Pac-10) led by as many as seven points in the second half, but the Bruins (17-2, 5-1) kept coming back. Bryce Taylor’s three-pointer put Oregon ahead 69-64 with 4:38 to play.

No. 4 Duke 81, Virginia Tech 64

Blacksburg, Va. – Kyle Singler scored 10 of his 16 points during an 18-9 run that gave No. 4 Duke some breathing room early in the second half. The Blue Devils (16-1, 4-0 ACC) won their sixth straight game. When a dunk by J.T. Thompson pulled the Hokies to 53-47, the Blue Devils answered by scoring the next seven points, one on a free throw by Singler after Deron Washington was called for an intentional foul.

No. 10 Michigan State 78, Northwestern 62

Evanston, Ill. – Raymar Morgan scored 23 points, Drew Neitzel added 20, and Michigan State delivered one of its best shooting performances of the season.

The Spartans (17-2, 5-1 Big Ten) were a season-best 11-of-18 from three-point range and were 29-for-48 from the field overall in winning for the 14th time in 15 games.

No. 15 Butler 63, Loyola of Chicago 50

Indianapolis – Reserve forward Pete Campbell scored 15 points, and Mike Green added 13 to lead Butler

The Bulldogs (18-2, 7-2 Horizon League) had spent the past month contending with sluggish starts and close games. That wasn’t the case this time.

Instead they took charge in the first half with a 15-2 run, and never allowed Loyola of Chicago (6-13, 2-7) to seriously challenge after the opening minutes.

No. 23 Xavier 69, No. 16 Dayton 43

Cincinnati – The Atlantic 10’s long-awaited showdown came down to defense, and No. 23 Xavier had more of what mattered most. Stanley Burrell scored 13 points and led a man-to-man defense that dug in from the opening tip. Xavier (16-4, 4-1) pushed the lead to double digits in the opening minutes and was never threatened in its most lopsided victory over Dayton in nine years.

Washington 72, No. 24 Arizona State 61

Tempe, Ariz. – Jon Brockman had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Washington handed Arizona State its first home loss of the season. The Huskies beat the Sun Devils for the 11th consecutive time, the longest such streak in the Pac-10.