PHOENIX — Since Lute Olson retired in October, the Arizona Wildcats have been reading their basketball obituary.

Turns out they're not dead yet.

Nic Wise scored a career-high 21 points, including three free throws in the final 31 seconds, and Arizona upset No. 4 Gonzaga, 69-64, yesterday.

Jordan Hill added 22 points and Chase Budinger had 14 for the Wildcats (7-2), who beat a team ranked in the top four for the first time since Nov. 8, 2001, when they beat No. 2 Maryland.

"A lot of people have been counting us down," Budinger said. "This kind of gives us hope that Arizona is not a lost team. We're not a rebuilding-type team.

"The biggest thing is that it kind of puts us on the map," Budinger said.

Under Olson, some Arizona fans came to believe that Tucson was the center of the college basketball universe. But the balance of power has shifted in recent years — and the once-mighty Wildcats felt like an underdog against the Bulldogs (7-1), who are no longer an up-and-comer in a fringe conference.

Arizona and Gonzaga met for only the third time — and the first since the top-seeded Wildcats held off the Bulldogs in a double-overtime thriller in the NCAA's second round in 2003.

"We feel that we've been underrated," Wise said. "We were the underdog coming in. We feel like we had nothing to lose in this game."

Led by interim coach Russ Pennell and inspired by a raucous partisan crowd in U.S. Airways Center, the Wildcats outscored Gonzaga 7-2 over the last 2:25, with Hill and Wise scoring all their points.

"We knew we were going to get a great game, and certainly we did," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

NO. 11 WAKE FOREST 66, WRIGHT STATE 53

Harvey Hale had a season-high 17 points to help host Wake Forest (9-0) beat Wright State (2-7). L.D. Williams added 11 points for the Demon Deacons, who are off to their best start since winning the first 11 games of 2003-04.

NO. 15 VILLANOVA 70, LA SALLE 59

Corey Stokes scored 18 points and Scottie Reynolds had 13 to lead host Villanova (10-1) over La Salle (4-4). Rodney Green and Kimmani Barrett each scored 16 points for the Explorers, who saw a three-game winning streak snapped.

NO. 20 ARIZONA ST. 59, IUPUI 58

Jeff Pendergraph and Derek Glasser scored all of Arizona State's four points in overtime, and the Sun Devils rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to defeat IUPUI (5-4) at Phoenix. Rihards Kuksiks scored 18 points, all on 3-pointers, to lead Arizona State (8-1), which trailed 39-23 early in the second half.

WAC MEN

NEVADA 62, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 48

Armon Johnson scored eight points in the final five minutes as host Nevada (5-4) beat Southern Illinois (3-5). Johnson, who finished with a game-high 16 points, hit a jumper with two seconds left on the shot clock to give Nevada a 56-48 lead with 2:25 to play. He also connected on a pair of jumpers with under two minutes to play.

NEW MEXICO STATE 90, UTEP 78

Jahmar Young scored 22 points and Jonathan Gibson added 19 to lead host New Mexico State (4-4) over UTEP (4-4). New Mexico State shot a blistering 54.9 percent from the field, while the Miners hit 42.6 percent of their shots.

MONTANA 69, FRESNO STATE 65

Anthony Johnson and Jack McGillis each scored 15 points to help visiting Montana (6-4) hold off Fresno State (4-5). Sylvester Seay led Fresno State with 17 points, while Nedeljko Golubovic equaled a career high with 14.

TOP 25 WOMEN

NO. 1 CONNECTICUT 77, PENN STATE 63

Tina Charles had 29 points and 18 rebounds as Connecticut (7-0) beat Penn State (5-5) in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trailing 19-18 with 9 minutes left in the half, UConn went on a 16-2 run to close the period.

NO. 6 TEXAS 73, NO. 7 TENNESSEE 59

Brittainey Raven scored 21 points and Texas continued its best start in 20 years with a win over Tennessee (7-2). Kat Nash added 12 points for the Longhorns, who are 9-0 for the first time since the 1987-88 season.

NO. 12 LOUISVILLE 75, KENTUCKY 59

Angel McCoughtry scored 31 points to lead host Louisville (9-1) over Kentucky (5-5). Candyce Bingham had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Deseree' Byrd added 10 points and nine assists for the Cardinals (9-1), who forced 26 turnovers.

NO. 14 RUTGERS 59, ARMY 38

Epiphanny Prince scored 25 points and Kia Vaughn added a season-high 12 to help Rutgers (6-2) beat Army (5-5) in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Vaughn scored eight of the team's first 10 points as the Scarlet Knights jumped to a 19-4 lead.

NO. 24 OKLAHOMA STATE 85, NO. 19 TCU 80

Andrea Riley had 19 points and 10 assists as host Oklahoma State (4-2) beat TCU (8-3). Rachel Rentschler scored 18 points and Helen Sverrisdottir added 16 for TCU, which had won four of its previous five games against ranked foes.

NO. 22 ARIZONA STATE 68, UC RIVERSIDE 45

Briann January scored 16 points and had five steals as host Arizona State (7-2) routed UC Riverside (3-5). The Sun Devils blew the game open with a 19-5 run to open the second half.

NO. 25 KANSAS ST. 73, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 63

Shalee Lehning scored 15 of her 21 points in the second half as host Kansas State (9-0) beat Texas-Arlington (3-5). Ashley Sweat scored 14 for the Wildcats, and Marlies Gipson had 12 points and 11 rebounds.