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With exactly three minutes remaining Saturday, Arizona led Washington 80-60 and Kevin O'Neill wanted to stop the game and go home.

"I hate garbage time,'' he said. "I'd rather watch cartoons.''

At precisely that moment, the Wildcats were shooting .700 from the field (28 of 40), which is as close to flawless as you get in college hoops and just a shade below the school record .717.

Had the game ended at that instant, the irascible KO would've had no choice but to go into the locker room and say: "I'm speechless.'' It would have been inappropriate for O'Neill to critique the Wildcats for anything.

In the space of 45 hours, the Wildcats played basketball the way the New England Patriots are playing football.

As good as Arizona was in Thursday's 76-64 victory over sixth-ranked Washington State, it might have been better Saturday, beating the Huskies 84-69.

What would the sometimes biting — OK, always biting — O'Neill do? Hug everybody?

But then Chase Budinger shockingly missed two jumpers. Nic Wise failed to score on a fast break, Jordan Hill blew a follow-up dunk attempt, and Zane Johnson clanked a three-point attempt off the rim.

Thus, O'Neill was able to dispense some constructive criticism about finishing the job. Otherwise, school was out, and everybody got the remainder of a redemptive weekend off.

As he prepared to leave McKale, O'Neill was asked about the "big weekend'' to come at USC and UCLA. He stopped, turned a deep shade of red and laughed.

"Wasn't this a big weekend?'' he asked. "Wasn't last weekend a big weekend?''

And therein lies the fleeting truth about Pac-10 basketball. Each week should be viewed as a separate unit, one of 10, with no tangible carryover except for temporary positioning in the jammed-up league standings.

"Everyone knows how it goes,'' said Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, whose team upset ASU on Thursday and seemed to be satisfied with a split. "Hold your home court.''

The Wildcats held their home court the way they held their home court during Lute Olson's glory days. Budinger and Jerryd Bayless were so good that you have to look at the numbers on paper to fully appreciate it. In the weekend sweep, they combined to:

● Average 49.5 points.

● Shoot .592 from the field and .586 from three-point distance.

● Make 21 of 22 free throws.

● Impress Washington's all-conference stud Jon Brockman, who said "we made two pro players look like pro players.''

It was something McKale Center has seen during the best of times. It was Damon Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves shooting down No. 7 Michigan. It was Michael Dickerson and Mike Bibby overwhelming No. 8 Stanford.

The Wildcats took their cue from B&B. It was also a productive weekend from Jawann McClellan, Hill and Nic Wise.

"I can't remember the last time we have played this well in back-to-back Pac-10 games,'' said McClellan.

The chess match of Saturday's game was fascinating. Romar hoped that the referees would allow physical play, buying into the you-can-beat-Arizona-if-you-rough-with-'em bromide that has been passed down by three generations of Pac-10 coaches.

But the refs, notably Bobby McRoy, decided to call a touch-foul game, and Brockman was assessed two fouls in the game's first 4 1/2 minutes.

"I'd rather have four guys in foul trouble than Jon with two (that early),'' said Romar. As a result, the Huskies had to change the way they played the game. They went to a zone defense, in part to protect Brockman against fouling out, and in part because their man-defense was futile.

Against the zone, O'Neill instructed his team to attack the basket and get fouled. At halftime, Budinger and Hill were 9 for 10 at the line, the Wildcats led 45-32 and, as Romar said: "We were allowing them to drive by us. … When you react late, you end up pushing.''

On Saturday, unlike so many games, a push was a foul.

When Arizona visits Washington on Feb. 21 in Seattle, it is likely that an entirely different style will be played. Brockman, for example, entered Saturday's game with 114 free throws, second highest in the Pac-10. He would typically draw six or eight fouls on someone like Hill and Kirk Walters and change the way the game is played.

But on Saturday, remarkably, Brockman did not get to the foul line because his typical assertive behavior was compromised in the first four minutes.

For 45 hours, however, the Wildcats were so good that it is difficult to imagine anyone beating them here, even a foul-free Brockman and perhaps even UCLA.

If the weekend sweep proves nothing else, it is that for the first time in three years you can imagine Arizona being stout enough to hang tough against the Bruins on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.