The Washington State basketball team picked up a huge win on the road over #4 Arizona basketball on Thursday night. It was an intense, back-and-forth battle all night long, but the Cougars ended up pulling out the win. Washington State trailed by three with 50 seconds left in the game, but they closed things out with a 6-0 run and won the game 77-74.

Thursday night's game was a thriller, and the final sequence was one of the best that we have seen this season. When Washington State basketball was down 74-71 late, they took the lead on a four-point play as Jaylen Wells sunk a three and got fouled. Washington State head coach Kyle Smith said that his team was very fortunate to escape with a win.

“We hung around just enough, which you want to do on the road,” Kyle Smith said after the game, according to an article from tucson.com. “Down three (before Wells’ corner shot), they really defended us well. We were able to come up with that offensive rebound and Andrej had great awareness. Actually, I think the officials passed on a reach on the floor – thank you – and he found Jaylen, who got clipped and he made the shot. Kind of what you have to do to win down here. We were very fortunate.”

This win was huge for the Cougars who are currently ranked #21 in the country. This one should shoot them up the rankings, and Washington State is also now in first place in the Pac-12 with just four games to go. The Cougars could end up getting a very high seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“Incredible win for our program,” Smith continued. “Our guys just gutted it out. They’re really hard to defend, and they opened up the second half with some transition.”

On the other hand, Arizona basketball, who looked like the big favorite to win the conference, now has some work to do. The chances were there for the Wildcats to get the win, but Washington State made the winning plays down the stretch.

“Obviously we had opportunities but they've been really good in close games all year,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said after the game. “They’re a team on a roll right now and they were able to find a way. They made a bunch of clutch, big-time plays down the stretch.”

The good news for the Wildcats is that they are only .5 games back of the Cougars, and they have five games left while Washington State only has four. If they both win out, they will both win a share of the Pac-12 title.

“We’re a good team,” Lloyd added. “I believe in these guys. We just lost to another good team that's on a roll right now. I don't think it’s anything more than that, and we have an obligation to try to come out and play really well on Saturday. That's our job. No one's gonna feel sorry for us. I certainly don’t.”

The final couple of weeks in the Pac-12 are going to be a lot of fun. Both Washington State basketball and Arizona should be favored in all of their remaining games.