One big win over ninth-ranked Washington State tonight has the Ducks headed back in the right direction.

''This is a top-10 team. We had to show the committee we're a tournament team,'' said freshman Tajuan Porter, who scored 21 points in Oregon's 64-59 victory over the Cougars.

The Ducks (21-7, 9-7 Pac-10) had lost three straight games and six of their last eight. The victory marked the third time Oregon has defeated a top-10 team this season.

Washington State (22-5, 11-4) had won five straight since a 77-74 overtime loss to Oregon in Pullman.

After trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, Oregon went up 46-43 midway through the second on Bryce Taylor's 3-pointer.

Washington State responded with a 9-0 run, and went ahead 52-46 on Daven Harmeling's 3-pointer.

Oregon closed to 55-53 on Porter's 3-pointer, then went ahead on another Porter three with 3:36 left. Harmeling quickly put the Cougars back up with a dunk.

After Porter made a pair of free throws, Maarty Luenen's tip-in with under a minute left made it 60-57 for Oregon. After Taylor Rochestie scored for Washington State, Aaron Brooks' key layup put the Ducks up 62-59 with 12.9 seconds left.

Chamberlain Oguchi made a pair of free throws for Oregon for the final margin.

''It wouldn't have been like that if Tajuan hadn't stepped up and hit those big shots,'' Brooks said of his key layup.

Porter made four of six 3-pointers, moving within four 3-pointers of tying the Pac-10 freshman record of 82 set by UCLA's Jason Kapono in 2000.

Brooks finished with 16 points and six assists.