COUGS WIN! COUGS WIN! COUGS WIN! BEAT 'ZONA

WASHINGTON STATE pulled off a historic upset today, knocking off No. 11 Arizona 70-63 in Tucson. It was the Cougs' first victory over 'Zona in 38 games dating to 1986 and the first win on the Wildcats' floor since 1984. Old-timers says its the biggest regular season Cougar victory since downing UCLA back in 1980.

Washington State used a scintillating long range shooting performance by senior guard Thomas Kelati to stun the Wildcat faithful and a regional television audience. It was the first home defeat of the season for Arizona, which leads the Pac-10 conference.

Kelati, the pride of Walla Walla, is already established as one of the most prolific three-point shooters in WSU history. But after today's game, he will become part of lore, as he scored 21 of his team-high 27 points from behind the arc. Kelati hit 7 of 11 treys, including six in the second half.

Ironically, he came into the contest battling a slump, having hit only one of his previous 11 three-pointers.

Kealti, whose nervous dad was in the stands, was golden in all phases of the game. He pulled down seven rebounds, dished off five assists and nailed critical free throws down the stretch.

As a team, the Cougs were 12 of 21 from 3-point land. Freshman point guard Derrick Low accounted for four of them, as he was perfect from out deep and scored a career high 13 points.

With the game tied at 63 and time winding down, Kelati drilled a trey with 50 seconds left, putting the Cougs up 66-63 with 50 seconds remaining. The senior added two foul shots 18 seconds later.

But this was a team win, the Cougs playing steady from start to finish.

Washington State controlled the tempo throughout, nabbing key rebounds along the way. WSU also hit the clutch free throws when they needed them down the stretch. WSU went 8-12 from the line while Arizona had nearly double the attempts from the charity stripe, going 15-21.

Low, who worked the point for a remarkable 39 of 40 minutes, drew praise from assistant head coach Tony Bennett. He said Low ran the offense with deadly precision throughout. Robbie Cowgill put up 12 points and Jeff Varem added another 10. Chris Schlatter pulled down a key offensive rebound late in the game.

Thomas Kelati matched his career-high with 27 points against Arizona in the Cougs 70-63 triumph on Saturday

Among the many marks that came to an end, WSU snapped a 26-game losing streak to ranked teams.

Washington State evened its record at 9-9 on the season. The Cougs are now 4-5 in league play, with the Los Angeles schools coming to Pullman this week.