UW freshman Isaiah Thomas said today that he can’t remember the last time a coach chose to have him on the bench at crunch time in a close game.

But that’s where he was Saturday, as the Huskies gutted out their 60-51 win over USC.

“It was weird,” Thomas said. “We won so I can’t complain about it. We won, and that’s all that matters. But it was something different. I’ve never had that.”

Coach Lorenzo Romar said Thomas sat because Venoy Overton was impacting the game by playing energetic defense and driving USC’s Dwight Lewis

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Technology — well, at least FaceBook and Twitter — came up today at our meeting with the Huskies.

First Jon Brockman noted that he is already at his FaceBook maximum of 5,000 friends, but that he now also has a Twitter account — JBrock40 — and he’d be happy to have some followers there.

Here, btw, is Brockman’s post from today: “Good practice today for the team, getting ready for the ASU game, hope we will have all of your support!”

(Meanwhile, I’ve also opened a Twitter account: donruiztnt. Mostly, I’ve just opened it

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UW senior forward Jon Brockman today was named among the 30 finalists for the Naismith award — awarded annually to the college game’s best player.

“Awesome,” coach Lorenzo Romar said. “He deserves it, that’s for sure. Whatever accolades Jon Brockman gets, he’s much deserving of it.”

“It’s an honor,” Brockman said. “Looking at the list, there’s a lot of great players on there. A lot of guys I know, so I’ll be able to call them and congratulate them. But it’s just an honor to be on the list, and a pretty cool thing.”

Here’s the full

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California coach Mike Montgomery has a lot of Pac-10 history, so he was asked today who he thinks rates at the league favorite this season.

His response: “Washington, with three home games, would certainly be in the driver’s seat given the fact that they are in first place as we speak.”

Arizona State’s visit to Washington on Thursday has sold out. The game between the No. 1 and 2 teams in the Pac-10 will be shown on FSN.

For those with tickets — and only those with tickets — the UW Alumni Association is hosting its final Jump Start party before the 8 p.m. tipoff.

Here is the info provided by the Alumni Association:

Husky Hoops Jump Start

UW vs. Arizona State

Thursday, February 26, 2009

5:00-8:00 p.m. in the Don James Center at Husky Stadium



Hear from Husky

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The start time for the Washington State-Washington men’s basketball game has been set for 2:30 p.m. March 7 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

The game, which will conclude the regular season for both teams, will be televised by FSN.

Given the implications of UW’s Pac-10 championship ambitions and WSU’s own goal of climbing to No. 6 to earn a first-day bye in the Pac-10 tournament … this could be a huge game with implications far beyond bragging rights.

UW romped in the earlier meeting, 68-48, on Jan. 3 in Pullman.

The 20-7 Pac-10 leading Huskies show up at No. 21 in both the media and coaches polls today.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s latest Bracketology has UW as a No. 5 seed going to Portland to meet Maryland, in a bracket that would pair that winner with the Purdue-Nevada winner for the right to go on to the Western regional in Arizona.

Arizona State won a 70-68 thriller over Arizona tonight, moving to within a half game of Washington for the Pac-10 lead.

The result means that the winner of the ASU-UW game at Hec Ed on Thursday will be alone at the top of the Pac-10 race, with either UW moving a game and a half ahead of the Sun Devils or ASU moving a half game ahead of the Huskies.