PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State hit 65 percent of its shots from the floor, 72 percent in the first half, yet barely hung on to beat unheralded Portland State last night.

That fact had coach Tony Bennett shaking his head after Portland State stayed close virtually the entire game. Eighth-ranked WSU pulled away in the final minutes for a 72-60 win.

"When you shoot that kind of percentage, you should not be in that close of a game," Bennett said. "Our offense bailed us out. We were not stopping them."

Aron Baynes scored 23 points, including six slam dunks, and grabbed nine rebounds on his 21st birthday to keep the Cougars (9-0) ahead. He made all nine of his field-goal attempts and five of six free throws. He also blocked two shots.

Baynes credited his teammates for attracting defenders away from him.

"They left me wide open," Baynes said.

Portland State (6-4) could have tried to double team Baynes, but coach Ken Bone didn't think that would help his smaller team.

"They are so good at what they do they could have solved the double," Bone said.

That was evident as Baynes' front court mate, Robbie Cowgill, added 15 points.

The Vikings instead chose to launch 25 3-pointers, making nine to stay close. They also grabbed 11 offensive rebounds.

"I'm proud of our effort," Bone said.

He praised Washington State for remaining patient on offense. The Cougars made 16 of 22 shots in the first half and 26 of 40 for the game. It was their highest shooting percentage in at least seven years.

Portland State stayed close by making six more 3-pointers than the Cougars, and forcing them into 17 turnovers.

"That was an unalert performance by our guys," Bennett said, noting his team was coming off an emotional win at No. 17 Gonzaga.

The Cougars, off to their best start since the 1991-92 team opened 12-0, also got 12 points from Nikola Koprivica and 10 points, six assists and five steals from Kyle Weaver. Derrick Low, an 'Iolani alum, scored four points, with two rebounds and two assists for the Cougars.

NO. 5 GEORGETOWN 87, JACKSONVILLE 55

Freshman Austin Freeman scored 15 points, and Chris Wright and DaJuan Summers both added 14 for the Hoyas, who improved to 7-0 for the first time since the 2003-04 season with a rout of the Dolphins (3-6) in Washington.

NO. 25 VILLANOVA 101, TEMPLE 93

Scottie Reynolds scored 27 points, and Antonio Pena and Shane Clark both added 17 as the visiting Wildcats (7-1) held off the Owls (4-5) in Philadelphia for their record 13th straight victory over their Big 5 intra-city rivals.

RANKED WOMEN

NO. 3 MARYLAND 64, TEMPLE 46

Kristi Toliver had 15 points and 11 assists, and the Terps (13-1) jumped to an early 19-4 lead and never looked back in routing the Owls (4-6) at College Park, Md.

NO. 5 NORTH CAROLINA 102, WOFFORD 42

Cetera DeGraffenreid scored 17 points to lead four teammates in double figures, and the Tar Heels (10-1) ran off 32 unanswered points in a 36-2 run to easily beat the Terriers (3-4) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

NO. 7 GEORGIA 79, DAVIDSON 65

Angel Robinson scored 17 points to lead five Lady Bulldogs (9-0) in double figures in a victory over the Wildcats (5-3), who had four players in double figures at Athens, Ga.

NO. 12 TEXAS A&M 73, NEW ORLEANS 44

Danielle Gant scored a career-high 28 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the Aggies (8-1) past the Privateers (5-4) at College Station, Texas for their 22nd straight home victory.

NO. 18 ARIZONA STATE 77, UC DAVIS 56

Kirsten Thompson had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists coming off the bench, and the Sun Devils (5-3) raced to a 34-17 lead at the break to cruise past the Aggies (5-2) at Tempe, Ariz.

COLORADO 62, NO. 20 VANDERBILT 51

Bianca Smith scored 22 points and the Buffaloes (6-2), leading 52-37 with 7:07 to play, allowed the Commodores (8-3) to cut the lead to 52-49 with 3:01 remaining before making 10 consecutive free throws in the final 1:47 to secure the upset at Nashville, Tenn.

NOTES

David N. Arseneault shattered the NCAA assists record when he had 34 in Grinnell College of Iowa's 151-112 win over North Central University of Minnesota in a Division III game Saturday at Des Moines, Iowa.

The previous record of 26 was set in 1989 by Robert James of Division III Kean University. The Division I record of 22 was achieved by three players, including current Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson at Southern University in 1988. Grinnell rotates five players in and out as often as possible, presses the entire game and shoots more than 50 3-pointers.