The Huskies were happy to win -- I assume largely because they'll never have to talk to sportswriters anymore about the Maples losing streak.

My story for the Monday paper is largely about that streak, and the key play that killed it -- the Isaiah Thomas drive with about 2 1/2 minutes left that turned a UW three-point lead into five, and really seemed to quiet the crowd and doom the Cardinal.

Here's how it looked from the Stanford side.

The Huskies are now 1/2 game behind UCLA in the Pac-10 race, with the rematch there coming up in a couple of weekends. Otherwise, the schedule really turns in UW's favor now -- six of their final eight games at home. They seem very close to locking down an NCAA tournament bid.

Some other highlights:

Star of the game: Coach Lorenzo Romar called Venoy Overton the game’s MVP, and who are we to argue? Overton came off the bench to provide 11 points, five assists, five steals, three rebounds and a lot of defense and energy.

Key stats: Stanford hit nine of 17 free throws (52.9 percent), while UW hit 21 of 28 (75 percent). Stanford also had trouble shooting from the field, hitting 41.9 percent to UW’s 47.3. The Huskies outrebounded the Cardinal, 39-34.

Key run: After nine ties and 10 lead changes in the first half, Washington scored the first nine points of the second half to take control, 44-34. Stanford whittled the lead down to three points in the final minutes, but never made it all the way back.

Observations: This was UW’s first win at Maples Pavilion since 1993, ending a run of 15 straight losses. … UW senior Jon Brockman had 13 points and 12 rebounds. It was his 53rd career double-double, which is the most among active players. … After going 2-2 over a season-long stretch of four straight road games, the Huskies now end the regular season with six of their final eight games at home.

Quotable: “I’m proud of our guys. I think our guys have done a really good guy through this schedule.” – UW coach Lorenzo Romar as the Huskies return home after back-to-back road splits in Arizona and the Bay Area.

Next: 8 p.m. Thursday, Oregon State, at Hec Edmundson Pavilion; FSN.

Final: The Huskies' 10-point lead shunk to three and -- given the history here -- is seemed that another disappointment might be awaiting. However, the Huskies held off the charge this time, winning in Mapled Pavilion after 15 straight losses.

I'll be back with notes and quotes.

11:10 remaining: Washington scored the first nine points of the second half to -- at least for now -- open some daylight in what had been a very close game.

However, some very odd things have happened over Stanford's 15 straight home wins in this series...

Halftime: UW, 35-34. Just a one-point lead, but I'll guess the Huskies will take it because they played a pretty sloppy first half. Stanford, somehow, played a sloppier one, including 11 turnovers, serveral unforced.

Once again, it took the Huskies a good while to remember they've got an all-conference player underneath, as Jon Brockman didn't get his first shot until the game was more than seven minutes old.

Also once again, Quincy Pondexter has picked up the slack offensively, leading with 13 points -- tied for the game-high with Stanford'd Landry Fields, who got 11 of those in the first 11 minutes of the half.

Stanford leading on the boards, 18-17.

Tipoff: Huskies wearing purple and going with their usual starting lineup: Brockman, Dentmon, Pondexter, Gant and Thomas.

Cardinal starting with Mitch Johnson, Landry Fields, Anthony Goods, Lawrence Hill and Josh Owens.

A fair little sprinkling of purple in the stands today, but of course, vastly outnumbered by cardinal. Also some openings of empty seats as the game tips.

I'll report back at halftime or as news breaks.

Pregame: The Huskies and Cardinal are on the floor of Maples Pavilion, beginning warmups for their 2:30 game (FSN).

And it's a big one for the Huskies because if they want to retain their national ranking, they'll likely need this one. (A split on this trip should do it, because a lot of ranked teams lost yesterday.) They also better win if they want to retain any hope of catching UCLA in the Pac-10 race, because the Bruins look like they've figured something out since their loss at UW.

We'll have our normal gameday drill here: pregame news as it happens, a couple of in-game updates, and then postgame notes and quotes.

Huskies and Cardinal tip off at 2:30 p.m. It'll be on FSN.

Here's today's UW-Stanford preview, which deals with Justin Dentmon's last-second foul that ended up costing the Huskies their game with the Cardinal four seasons ago. I probably think back on that as the second most dramatic loss of my five seasons covering UW hoops ... trailing only the Sweet 16 loss to UConn that ended that same season.

Since I reference that 2006 Stanford game a lot, I dug out the story I wrote from that game on that day. Here it is:

STANFORD, Calif. - Washington senior Brandon Roy has seen a lot.

But as he stood outside the silent Huskies locker room in Maples Pavilion, he admitted he had never seen - or felt - anything quite like Washington's 76-67 overtime loss to Stanford on Sunday night.

"For the first time in basketball, I feel sorry for myself," Roy said. "I feel like I did everything I could to win, and then that happened."

The loss was so sudden and so painful, several Huskies said they would take Sunday night to recover.

Then they resolved to wake up this morning with a goal: To make sure the damage is limited to a single loss.

"What's important at this point is we don't take a nosedive," UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. "I've seen teams in this situation not recover from it. That's what we need to make sure we get back. It's fine to grieve. I'm going to grieve. But tomorrow's a new day, and we have to bounce back."

The Huskies were 2.1 seconds away from victory after Roy hit a pair of free throws to put Washington ahead 63-60.

They were close enough to believe they had achieved the seniors' goal of winning at Stanford after 12 seasons of losses.

Then the roof caved in.

Stanford ran a play it calls "home run" - inbounding a pass from under its own basket to Matt Haryasz, who relays it to guard Chris Hernandez, who launches a desperation 3-point shot.

That is exactly the play Romar told his team to watch out for, exactly the play the Huskies prepared for in their huddle.

Still, Hernandez broke free from Justin Dentmon, and in the freshman's effort to recover, he brushed Hernandez's shooting hand. The foul was whistled, which sent Hernandez to the line needing to hit all three shots to force overtime.

The first was clean. The second swished. The third stuttered on the rim before Hernandez coaxed it through with body English.

"I was trying to lean it in just a little," Hernandez said. "I'll tell you, the lord had my back."

Even before those shots, while the officiating crew reviewed their call - ruling Hernandez had been behind the line and that he had released the shot before the buzzer - Romar tried to rally his players.

"The first thing I told our team while they were reviewing - I knew they were down - I said, 'Get you minds ready. In the event he makes these three, we've got to play another five minutes.' "

Saying it proved easier than doing it.

The Huskies (16-4 overall, 5-4 Pacific-10 Conference) quickly fell behind the Cardinal (10-7, 6-3) and then spent the remainder of the game intentionally fouling in a doomed effort to catch up.

"It kind of took me a minute in overtime to get my engine going," Roy said. "I think (my teammates felt) the same. It was tough trying to kick start."

"There was a letdown," Romar said. "Those things are hard to recover from. You could see their look. There's no way you think you're going to lose that with 2.1 second to go. It's an unheard of situation, and it happened."

No one was more distraught than Dentmon, who took some extra time before meeting with the media.

"It was a dumb foul," he said. "I thought I got him after the buzzer, but the camera showed it wasn't. It was a mental mistake. . . . (My teammates) just told me to put it behind me. They told me to let it slip, that I became a man tonight. This is just going to make me stronger."
Veteran Huskies admitted they must take their own advice about putting the game behind them.

The loss dropped Washington to a tie for fifth place as the league race hit its midpoint, two games behind conference leader UCLA.

That cold math is a reminder that the Huskies cannot afford to let the Stanford loss snowball into additional losses.

"There are still more things I'm planning for my senior year," Roy said. "(Winning at Stanford) is just one box I wanted to check off. There's still a lot more to play for: that NCAA tournament, and the chance to win that. And now, as dark as it may look, we still have a chance to win this Pac-10 championship."