LAWRENCE, Kan. — Brandon Rush's midcourt heave at the buzzer nearly went in off the backboard, then bounced against the front of the rim, hanging there for a tantalizing second before falling away.

Rush couldn't win the game for the fourth-ranked Jayhawks in regulation, so in overtime he scored five of his 17 points to help Kansas survive its first big test of the season, holding off Arizona 76-72 on Sunday night.

And Kansas coach Bill Self was actually glad Rush's attempt at a buzzer-beater barely missed the mark.

"I'm glad it didn't go in because we need to play five more competitive minutes like that and have some good things happen," Self said. "I mean I would have been really glad had it gone in, but since we won the game we needed those 5 minutes to execute with the pressure on us."

Kansas (5-0) opened the season with four victories, winning by an average of 31.2 points. But those wins came against the likes of Northern Arizona, Louisiana-Monroe and Division II Washburn, not really giving the Jayhawks much to gauge themselves against.

A win over Arizona (3-2), with budding stars Chase Budinger and Jerryd Bayless, would certainly give Kansas a fair assessment of just how good it can be.

Despite scoring all but 14 of their points from the lane and the free-throw line, the Jayhawks passed the test, getting 20 points from Darrell Arthur and 14 from Mario Chalmers for their best start since opening the 2004-05 season with 14 wins.

"I feel pretty good about the way we responded," Arthur said. "I thought we played pretty good down the stretch."

No. 9 Washington State 71, Air Force 62

At Spokane, Wash., Derrick Low made six second-half 3-pointers and scored 19 points to help Washington State (6-0) beat Air Force in the Cougar Hispanic College Fund Challenge.

No. 13 Duke 78, Eastern Kentucky 43

At Durham, N.C., Freshman Taylor King scored a career-high 27 points to lead Duke (6-0) to a rout of Eastern Kentucky.

No. 18 Kansas State 82, Rider 69

At Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Andre Gilbert scored 22 points, Jacob Pullen added 19 points and five assists and Kansas State (5-1) held off Rider in the Old Spice Classic.

Southern California 70, No. 19 S. Illinois 45

At Anaheim, Calif., Freshman Davon Jefferson scored 18 points and Southern California (5-1) blew out Southern Illinois in the second half in the inaugural Anaheim Classic title game.

North Carolina State 69, No. 20 Villanova 68

At Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Gavin Grant hit two of three free throws with 0.4 seconds left and North Carolina State beat Villanova (4-1) to win the Old Spice Classic Championship.

Courtney Fells had 21 points for N.C. State (4-1), while J.J. Hickson and Grant added 15.