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Here's a good one: Jerryd Bayless insists he's still not 100 percent healthy.

Seriously.

"Not yet," Bayless said Saturday. "My explosiveness isn't there."

Uh-huh. You can tell he must be "ailing" by how concerned his coach, Kevin O'Neill, appeared to be when told of Bayless' concern after the freshman guard led Arizona to an 84-69 win over Washington on Saturday.

"What did he shoot? Nine of 11 (field goals)? Five for six (three-pointers)? 26 points, six assists and two turnovers in 29 minutes?" O'Neill said. "I think he's all right."

O'Neill paused briefly for reflection. Then he laughed.

"I can't wait until he's 100 percent," O'Neill said. "What's he saying? He's Michael Jordan?"

Maybe. Even if he was lacking a half step or so, Bayless wasn't far from perfect last week in Arizona's home-court sweep over Washington State and Washington.

Just two weeks after he returned from a sprained knee injury and just a week after he struggled with an ill-fitting shoe at Stanford, Bayless put together two of his best games of the season.

Against Washington State on Thursday, Bayless had 23 points on 6-for-12 shooting, six assists, two turnovers and enough defense to prod WSU sharpshooter Derrick Low into a 1-for-6 three-point effort.

Against Washington, Bayless was nearly flawless from the field and the three-point line while complementing wingmate Chase Budinger for the third straight game. Bayless and Budinger combined for 45 points on Thursday and 51 on Saturday.

"Jerryd and Chase are both gonna make good shots unless they're exhausted," O'Neill said. "As both of them have gotten in better condition, they've been shooting the ball better."

While O'Neill credited Budinger's off-season fitness regimen for improving stamina this season — Budinger averages 38.1 minutes in conference games — Bayless had to work his way back from a knee he had sprained during a Dec. 28 practice in Memphis.

Bayless missed a total of four games, and Arizona lost three of them. The Wildcats' only other loss since November came on Jan. 17 at Stanford when Bayless complained that an ill-fitting shoe threw him off — later taking the blame for throwing teammates off with his complaints.

On the flip side, during UA's past four wins, Bayless has had 106 points and 25 assists.

These are not coincidental trends the way O'Neill sees it.

The UA interim head coach basically cites the Wildcats' loss of rhythm in late December to Bayless' injury, a rhythm the UA may be getting back with three straight wins.

"The only stretch we haven't played well was when Jerryd Bayless was hurt," O'Neill said. "We played bad against Virginia and bad when Jerryd was out. Other than that, we've played pretty well."

As a bonus, O'Neill has seen Bayless' defense consistently improve during the season. Even with a healthy knee, Bayless wasn't equipped to handle a guy such as Low earlier in the season.

"If Jerryd would have played Low at the time we played Virginia, Low would have had 25," O'Neill said. "He's getting a feel for the game, a pace for the game. … The hardest thing from being a high school player to a college player at this level is playing man-to-man defense. It's a near-impossible task. He's really made some progress."

With any help from his knee, Bayless just might be able to put up a stand this week against guys such as USC's O.J. Mayo and UCLA's Darren Collison, helping the Wildcats exceed expectations during a potentially brutal trip to Los Angeles.

"I think my defense is starting to feel a lot better," Bayless said. "Right now, I'm feeling like I'm getting almost back there. I've just got to continue to do my rehab, and then, hopefully, I'll be 100 percent pretty soon."