In my four years of UW basketball, I have never feared for my personal well-being while at a game. Last night, with a full-to-the-brim Hec Edmundson Pavilion shaking to its very core, I did fear for my safety.

For 40 minutes — well, maybe 39 — the jam-packed arena was on the cusp of exploding with college basketball at its finest.

I'm willing to bet Washington state geologists felt something on the Richter scale at some time between 7-9 p.m.

UW has no bigger rival than the Wildcats on the hardwood. Arizona came in with an 11-game winning streak; the Huskies had beaten the past seven ranked opponents that came to Hec Ed.

Something had to give, and that something wasn't going to give without a fight.

For hopeful Husky fans, Washington's first Pac-10 win is going to have to come another day. On this night, the Wildcat shooting — an offensive performance that would make the Phoenix Suns blush — was simply too much to handle.

In a season of blowout wins and blowout losses, exuberant enthusiasm and maddening frustration, there was no doubt this game was going to be pure entertainment — and it didn't disappoint.

Quincy Pondexter alone exhibited an assorted collection of plays that sent countless hands to the rewind button on the TiVo, I'm sure.

Arizona coach Lute Olson tried to join the excitement, but nearly sabotaged the Husky cheerleading routine on another one of his trips across the court to argue a meaningless call.

But enough about shiny white-haired guys.

Arizona's five starters — a group that coach Lorenzo Romar said could all be playing in the NBA within the next couple years — proved they were among the nation's elite.

They played nearly every minute and scored every point.

Former local prep star Marcus Williams was near flawless in his homecoming. Freshman Chase Budinger was near-perfect in his Seattle debut — unfazed by the Dawg Pack's heckling efforts of blown-up baby pictures and a recital of his phone number throughout the night á la the Channing Frye-esqe incident.

Oh yeah, Arizona had two other guys score more than 20 points too.

The Wildcats made the offensive performances of Gonzaga and UCLA earlier this season look like child's play.

Arizona 3-pointers — 11 of 'em, but who's counting? — were dropping like free-throws. Their free throws (21-23) were gimmes in the face of rabid fans.

Romar admitted that neither he nor his coaching staff thought the visitors could keep up their frantic scoring pace.

"We took a gamble and lost it," he said.

But it was far from a Wildcat runaway. A blowout would almost have been pardonable on a night like this.

In a shuffled Husky lineup, freshman Phil Nelson continued his steady improvement and demonstrated why effort and consistency deserve to start.

The four Washington freshmen continued to show potential — a promise that Husky fans have all but waited to receive. Of the Huskies first 51 points, 40 were scored by the UW's first year players.

Entertainment and improvement aside, in the end Washington was no immovable object to Arizona's irresistible force. For this night at least, the night belongs to the sharpshooters from Tucson, Ariz. Them, and that mischievous turncoat traitor that successfully infiltrated the Dawg Pack.

Reach columnist Joshua Mayers at joshuamayers@thedaily.washington.edu