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SPOKANE, Wash. — The Arizona Wildcats watched film for about 20 minutes Friday and practiced for about 50.

During that time, nobody showed up to join the Wildcats.

No guards to help alleviate the pressure Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger felt in a 75-66 loss at Washington on Thursday. No new big men to help Jordan Hill deal with any possible foul trouble he might have tonight at Washington State.

So that was about it. UA interim head coach Kevin O'Neill went over Thursday's game and some advance strategy for the Cougars, of course, but had no new rotations to ponder or different personnel to use in certain situations.

"I pointed out some things in a film session," O'Neill said Friday, after holding practice at Gonzaga's practice facility. "But the things that happened to us (at Washington), are as much or more a result of personnel and the limitations of our ball-handling personnel. It's just the way it is."

Thursday's loss, in which the Huskies played nine guys 13 minutes or more, only underscored the Wildcats' troubles without injured guard Nic Wise. Not only is Wise the best-suited player on the team to deal with Washington's pressure, as he did last month at McKale Center, but his absence has continued to put a monstrous scoring and ball-handling load on Jerryd Bayless.

"I'm the only point guard we have right now," Bayless said.

Bayless, as usual, kept his post-game remarks to a minimum Thursday. But his competitive streak makes it pretty clear how he is reacting under the surface to the fact that Arizona has lost four of its past five games.

"I don't think (he's doing) well," O'Neill said. "Jerryd's a guy who cares only about winning, and this is really bothering him. I care only about winning, and it's bothering me. It's bothering our team, knowing what they could be doing if we were at full strength.

"The situation is as it is, and there's not a darn thing we can do about it."

O'Neill added that he wanted to make it clear he was not blaming his players nor does he want them to feel any pressure. He knows, they know, everyone who cares knows, that Arizona probably needs to win at least two more regular-season games to get into the NCAA tournament.

"I think that these guys are giving a superlative effort all the way through the year, and our job is to win a couple more games," O'Neill said. "I applaud the effort of our players. I am not (exaggerating) one bit. These guys have done everything that they can do, and they will continue to do. I respect how they've handled it."

At the same time, senior wing Jawann McClellan said he does not blame O'Neill, either.

"It's definitely not Kevin O'Neill's fault," McClellan said. "I don't care what the fans say or what everybody says. It's not his fault. We were in the game to win, but we made a lot of turnovers (Thursday). He's not out there making the turnovers. The only thing he can do is put the right group out there. And he's done that every game this season."

But tonight, O'Neill will not be able to use quite the same group he had last month, when Arizona shot 55 percent from the field to beat WSU 76-64 at McKale Center. Wise played 30 minutes in that game.

"We're a different team at this point than we were last time," O'Neill said. "We've lost four of five, and three of four without Nic."

Washington State is a slightly different team, too. Cougar coach Tony Bennett said Friday that some trouble spots surfaced in that McKale game, and after a close win at ASU two nights later, the Cougars lost three straight home games.

Then they regrouped and have won four straight games.

"It was a lesson that when we're not ready, when we're not sharp, it's hard for us," Bennett said of the first UA-WSU game. "We're good collectively, but we really have to be right."

Now, the Cougars are hoping to erase the memory further by winning tonight.

"They embarrassed us in Tucson, exposed our weaknesses," guard Taylor Rochestie said after the Cougars beat ASU on Thursday. "If we come out and play Washington State basketball, it's going to be a lot different."