Washington needed a quality road win. With just one trip remaining on the Pac-10 schedule, the chances to post a quality win for the selection committee were dwindling. Their best opportunity came Saturday at Arizona, but the Huskies did not want it as much as their opponents.

The Wildcats (15-7 overall, 6-5 Pac-10) also had something to play for against the UW — having lost six of its past eight — and in their second meeting of the season, it was the home team that came out the victor, winning 84-54.

The Huskies (14-8 overall, 4-7 Pac-10) did not come out like a team in desperate need of a win. Instead, they allowed Arizona to go off on two prolonged runs, first a 20-4 run in the first half, and then a 13-0 run to put the final nail in the coffin for the Huskies.

"I thought we would compete much harder," coach Lorenzo Romar told the Associated Press. "From the opening possession we were not executing. When the game started to get away, you could have already seen it coming."

Washington's star power was stymied for the most part by a renewed Wildcat defense, and only Jon Brockman and Artem Wallace scored in double digits. Wallace scored a career-high 12 points.

Despite the 10 points Brockman scored, the Husky captain was unable to be truly effective. After picking up his fourth foul with 16:11 remaining in the game, Brockman did not re-enter, and finished with a season-low two rebounds.

"Right from the beginning, they punched us in the face," Brockman told the AP. "We didn't punch back, and they kept on punching."

As a team, the Huskies shot 37.5 percent from the field and just 14.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Especially cold from the 3-point zone was Ryan Appleby, who was only able to convert on 1-of-8 shooting.

For the second consecutive time, Arizona took advantage of the porous Husky defense, scoring its highest point total since visiting Seattle on Jan. 4.

Washington had no response for the Wildcats, especially for freshman Jordan Hill and junior Jawann McClellan.

In a game where the Huskies' Spencer Hawes was the featured freshman big man, it was Hill who shone the brightest. He established a career-high in points (16) and blocks (five), and tied a career high in rebounds (10).

For just the second time all season, the Huskies were on the losing end of the rebounding margin, giving up 37 and pulling down just 25. Many of their struggles on the boards could be attributed to Brockman — the Pac-10's second-leading rebounder — being relegated to the bench for long stretches of time.

McClellan, who had enjoyed great success against Washington before with 22 points, had slumped terribly since. In Saturday's game, though, the junior re-established himself with 15 points.

"This was a team win," Arizona coach Lute Olson told the AP. "For example, Marcus [Williams] only took two shots in the second half, but he had six assists and no turnovers. That is a team game. The overall spirit of the team was high coming into the game."

Reach reporter Justin Chartrey at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.