The Seahawks had better be good, because late next season, they're in for a long-term national closeup. Four games in a row, wrapped around a Week 11 bye, will be in prime-time. Since the Seahawks have a league-best 26-5-1 in the big shows, the pressure figures to be manageable.

At least now they have the game's leading man, the handsomely compensated Russell Wilson.

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The college basketball nation is recognizing what the Pac-12 Conference has known for the past couple of years -- Matisse Thybulle is the best there is when it comes to defense.

The University of Washington senior swingman was named winner of the 2019 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award, beating out some higher profile competitors such as Brandon Clarke of Gonzaga, De’Andre Hunter of Virginia and Zion Williamson of Duke.

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BY CHRIS TOMASSON

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jack Sikma was talking Saturday about the top centers he faced in his NBA career. Then he mentioned Shaquille O’Neal.

“I missed him by a couple of years,’’ Sikma, who retired in 1991, said of O’Neal, who entered the league in 1992.

Sikma paused.

“Put it this way: He missed me,’’ Sikma said, smiling.

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BY CHRIS TOMASSON

MINNEAPOLIS -- Paul Westphal has a trivia question he loves to ask.

“Did you know that I was traded twice for hall of famers?’’ he said.

In 1975, Westphal was dealt from the Boston Celtics to the Phoenix Suns for Charlie Scott. In 1980, he went from the Suns to the Seattle SuperSonics for Dennis Johnson.

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After a 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance over 20 years, the Gonzaga Bulldogs finished another splendid season Saturday the same way they have the past two decades -- no title.

College basketball's highest-scoring offense met its match in the defense of third-seeded  Texas Tech, which is going to the Final Four for the first time. The Red Raiders disrupted and dismayed the No. 1-seeded Zags 75-69 (box) in Anaheim.

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The flicker of momentum the Mariners displayed with three wins to begin the season took a double dousing in a single at-bat Friday against Boston. Closer Hunter Strickland, troubled by shoulder pain, gave up a game-winning, three-run pinch homer to Mitch Moreland, then found himself Saturday on the 10-day injured list after being diagnosed with a strained lat.

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BY DOUG DROWLEY

LAS VEGAS - For one night, just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Washington Huskies.

The silver lining was that the Huskies' 68-48 loss (box) to Oregon Saturday night in the Pac-12 Tournament title game at T-Mobile Arena was not likely fatal to their bid for an NCAA Tournament berth.

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BY DOUG DROWLEY

LAS VEGAS - Decades have passed since the Pac-12 has seen the feats Matisse Thybulle and the Washington Huskies have produced this season. The Pac-12 wasn’t even the Pac-12 the last time such things were accomplished.

Team-wise, the biggest thing Friday night at T-Mobile Arena was that No. 1-seeded Washington advanced to its first Pac-12 Conference tourney championship game since the 2010-11 season with a 66-61 semifinal victory (box) over the Colorado Buffaloes.

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BY DOUG DROWLEY

LAS VEGAS - The sigh of relief covered the entire 1,700 miles from southern Nevada to Seattle.

Despite controlling the pace almost from start to finish, the No. 1-seeded Washington Huskies needed a mistake from eighth-seeded USC with five seconds to play to ensure a 78-75, first-round Pac-12 Tournament victory (box) Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

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After a relatively easy dispatch of ninth-seeded Arizona 78-65 Wednesday in the opening game of the Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tourney in Las Vegas, eighth-seeded USC draws No. 1 seeded Washington at noon Thursday in a quarterfinal matchup.  The Huskies beat the Trojans 75-62 in the teams' only meeting Jan. 30 at Hec Ed.

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BY DOUG DROWLEY

LAS VEGAS - They are a basketball team that occupies the No. 1 position atop the national collegiate polls. They are about to be one of the top four seeds into the NCAA Tournament field, despite having their 21-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night.

Next week can't get here fast enough for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

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The search for familiar players among the 2019 Mariners took a hit Monday when word came from spring training in Peoria that 3B Kyle Seager will have surgery to fix a tendon in his left hand that was damaged when he dove for a ball down the line in a game Friday  against the Cubs.

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Matisse Thybulle and Jaylen Nowell, dominant forces that led the Washington Huskies to the Pac-12 Conference regular-season championship, were named to the 10-member All-Pac-12 first team Monday, as was Washington State's Robert Franks. UW's Noah Dickerson was an honorable mention. It was the fifth time in Pac-12 history UW had three selections.

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For more than a half Saturday night in Pullman, the Huskies, who lost at Arizona State a week earlier, looked as if they were ready to resurrect last season's late fade. But senior Noah Dickerson wasn't having it, getting his final bucket and rebound of an 18-and-10 evening with a tip-in that sealed Washington's 72-70 victory (box) over Washington State.

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It was a long time ago that the Sonics won the NBA title. It may be almost as long before Seattle sees NBA basketball again.

Until then, we'll have Thursday. The boys are back in town.

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Whether the result was bigger for Washington State or the Pac-12 Conference wasn't readily apparent, but at least the Cougars don't have to live with the Apple Cup outcome as the final memory for an otherwise splendid football season.

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Sigi Schmid, the MLS expansion Sounders' first coach, died Wednesday, three weeks after being hospitalized at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in need of a heart transplant. He was 65. Cause of death was not disclosed.

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The Washington Huskies Wednesday night nearly rocked the college basketball world.

A valiant effort in the hostile confines of McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane was thwarted when Rui Hachimura's jumper with .6 seconds left gave unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Gonzaga an 81-79 win over UW.

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The Cougars may have lost the Apple Cup again, and were handed a second-tier bowl invite despite a 10-2 record, but Gardner Minshew II is going out on top. The graduate transfer was named Monday the 2018 winner of  Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation's best college quarterback.

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After one of best seasons for a linebacker in Huskies football history, Washington senior Ben Burr-Kirven was named Wednesday as Pac-12 Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2018 season.

He's the second Husky to win the honor in the past three seasons. Former OL Jake Eldrekamp won in 2016.

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