NEWARK, N.J. — Pittsburgh's latest win was far from being one of those classics you watch over and over.

"You're talking about two good defensive teams nationally," Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. "Washington State is up there and people say we play pretty good defense and when there are good defensive teams you're not going to look smooth."

No. 4 Pittsburgh looked smooth enough to beat Washington State, 57-43, last night in the championship game of the Legends Classic, and it looked really good as far as defense went.

The Panthers were especially like the team known for its ability to stop an opponent at the end of the game, holding the Cougars to three points over the final 4:59.

"They definitely toughened up on us, especially in the second half," Washington State coach Tony Bennett said.

Sam Young scored 15 points and Levance Fields added 14 for the Panthers (7-0), who were able to win despite shooting 35.4 percent from the field (17 of 48). They forced the Cougars (5-1) into 15 turnovers and turned them into 17 points, while Washington State was able to get just two points off the Panthers' eight miscues.

Daven Harmeling had 12 points for Washington State, which had won 21 straight games against nonconference opponents dating to 2006-07.

No. 2 Connecticut 88, Bryant 58: Hasheem Thabeet had 16 points and 12 rebounds and host Connecticut (6-0) routed Bryant (1-3), giving coach Jim Calhoun his 780th career win. The victory moves Calhoun into a tie with Lou Henson and Lute Olson for eighth on the all-time list.

No. 13 UCLA 89, Florida International 54: Freshman guard Jrue Holiday scored 20 points and host UCLA (4-1) cruised over Florida International (3-4). Holiday made all eight of his field-goal attempts. Darren Collison added 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds for UCLA.

Dayton 89, No. 15 Marquette 75: Rob Lowery scored a career-high 21 points and Dayton (6-0) beat Marquette (5-1) to win the Chicago Invitational Challenge at Hoffman Estates, Ill. The Golden Eagles got a career-high 28 points from Wesley Matthews and 19 points from Dominic James.

No. 16 Xavier 60, Miami (Ohio) 53: Derrick Brown scored a career-high 23 points, and host Xavier (6-0) beat Miami (2-3) to stay unbeaten. Kenny Hayes scored 19 points for Miami.

No. 20 Villanova 78, Rhode Island 65: Dante Cunningham had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Villanova (6-0) beat Rhode Island (5-2) in the championship game of the Philly Classic. Corey Fisher added 14 points for the Wildcats.

No. 22 Miami 79, Stetson 65: Cyrus McGowan scored 14 points to lead host Miami (4-1) over Stetson (2-3). Dwayne Collins and Jack McClinton had 12 points apiece for the Hurricanes. James Dews finished with 10. McClinton also had six assists.

No. 25 Wisconsin 67, Wis.-Milwaukee 46: Trevon Hughes scored 16 points and Joe Krabbenhoft added 12 points and 10 rebounds as host Wisconsin (5-1) beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee (3-4). Wisconsin is 24-1 overall against the Panthers.

WAC MEN

Boise State 62, Southern Utah 59: Anthony Thomas scored 16 points, making all four 3-point attempts, as host Boise State (4-1) edged Southern Utah (1-4). Boise State's Paul Noonan hit two free throws with three seconds left and Southern Utah missed a half-court shot at the buzzer.

Utah State 97, Cal Poly 57: Gary Wilkinson scored 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds to help host Utah State (4-0) beat Cal Poly (1-4). Stavon Williams scored 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in the second half for the Aggies.

ALASKA-ANCHORAGE 62, LOUISIANA TECH 57: Kenny Barker scored 23 points and host Alaska-Anchorage (1-5) beat Louisiana Tech (2-4) for seventh place in the Great Alaska Shootout. Kyle Gibson led Louisiana Tech with 17 points.

Portland 63, Nevada 61: Kramer Knutson scored 15 points as host Portland (4-1) beat Nevada (2-3). Nevada's Luke Babbitt led all scorers with 17 points and had eight rebounds.

WOMEN'S TOP 25

No. 2 North Carolina 82, Oregon State 78: Iman McFarland scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help North Carolina (8-0) hold off Oregon State (3-1) in the Junkanoo Jam at Freeport, Bahamas. North Carolina built a 45-30 halftime advantage, but the Beavers closed to 77-75 with 1:26 left.

No. 3 California 76, Iowa 43: Ashley Walker scored 20 of her 32 points in the first half to help California (6-0) rout Iowa (4-3) in the Paradise Jam tournament at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Trailing 8-2, Cal went on a 24-2 run to take a 26-10 lead.

Wisconsini 59, No. 6 Baylor 58: Alyssa Karel scored 15 points, including a jumper with 7 seconds left, to lift Wisconsin (5-1) over Baylor (6-1) at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Baylor led 58-53 with 2:43 left before Wisconsin rallied behind Karel.

Nevada 85, No. 7 Louisville 82: Dellena Criner scored 25 points and host Nevada (4-3) upset Louisville (5-1) in the championship game of the Nugget Classic for the school's first victory over a top-10 team. Criner's two free throws with 11.8 seconds left made it 84-78 and secured the win.

No. 8 Texas A&M 70, Pepperdine 60: Danielle Gant scored 19 points and Sydney Carter added a career-high 17 to help visiting Texas A&M (6-0) beat Pepperdine (3-3) and win the Timeout 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament. Carter's 3-pointer snapped a 52-52 tie and the Aggies stayed ahead the rest of the game.

No. 11 Texas 76, Georgia Tech 68: Brittainey Raven scored 20 points to lead Texas (6-0) over Georgia Tech (3-2) in the opening round of the FAU Thanksgiving Classic at Boca Raton, Fla. Erika Arriaran added 15 for Texas.

No. 14 Notre Dame 78, No. 24 Michigan St. 72: Kellie Watson hit five straight 3-pointers to help ignite a big run and host Notre Dame (5-0) overcame a 34-point performance by Aisha Jefferson of Michigan State (6-1). The last two of Watson's consecutive 3-pointers were part of a 13-6 run that gave the Irish a 39-34 halftime lead.

No. 15 Auburn 66, N.C. State 51: Sherell Hobbs scored 15 points to lead Auburn (6-0) over N.C. State (4-3) in the opening round of the FIU Thanksgiving Classic at Miami.

No. 16 Virginia 76, Marquette 71: Monica Wright scored 31 points and visiting Virginia (5-1) rallied to beat Marquette (5-1) in the WBCA Classic final. Whitny Edwards had 13 points, and Aisha Mohammed had nine points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers.

No. 17 Vanderbilt 72, Virginia Tech 43: Christina Wirth scored 22 points and host Vanderbilt (6-1) forced 20 turnovers in a win over Virginia Tech (5-1). Merideth Marsh added 12 points for the Commodores, who led 38-19 at halftime.

No. 20 Ohio State 72, Boston University 47: Andrea Walker had 14 points, and Samantha Prahalis and Jantel Lavender each scored 13 as host Ohio State (5-1) beat Boston University (3-3) in the Buckeye Classic.

Florida 65, No. 21 Arizona State 60: Sha Brooks scored 15 of her 25 points in the second half, and Florida (6-1) held on to beat Arizona State (3-2) and win the Lucaya Division championship of the Junkanoo Jam at Freeport, Bahamas.

No. 25 Xavier 66, Winthrop 43: Ta'Shia Phillips had 20 points and 13 rebounds to help host Xavier (5-2) beat Winthrop (2-3).