Disappointments much of the regular season, the Huskies finally claimed a Pac-10 title, winning the conference tournament Saturday and going into the NCAA Tournament on a high.

And they did it in about as dramatic fashion as possible, rallying from four points down with 32 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, then winning it on a 20-footer by guard Isaiah Thomas at the buzzer.

The Huskies were reeling as they entered the Pac-10 Tournament, having lost six of their last 10 conference games to fall to third place after having been an overwhelming pick to win the regular season title.

But the Huskies everyone expected to see all season finally showed up in the Pac-10 Tournament as Washington swept through Washington State, Oregon and finally Arizona to win the conference tourney for the third time since 2005.

UW is now 23-10 and assured of a third straight bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"It's a good time for us to be playing together and playing right,'' said UW coach Lorenzo Romar, who earlier in the week had called this his most trying season, due in part to an investigation that resulted last week in a charge on point guard Venoy Overton of supplying alcohol to a minor. Overton was suspended this week and UW was able to win three games in three days with essentially an eight-man roster.

Overton, however, will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament.

Entering the season, Romar openly talked about this being the year he felt the Huskies could finally get past the Sweet 16 -- three of his UW teams since 2005 have been stopped in that round.

As UW meandered through the conference season, simply making it to the tournament seemed a victory in itself.

But now that UW has qualified and seems to be playing its best basketball of the season, those goals may suddenly be more realistic.

"We felt from the beginning of the year if we came out and played Husky basketball and played the way we're capable of, we'd have a chance to be successful in most any game," Romar said. "So we'll go see."

Overton's return will help with UW's depth, and the Huskies were also buoyed in the Pac-10 tournament by solid play from freshmen guards Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox.

And then there's Thomas, who was the MVP of the tournament and played all 45 minutes against Arizona, scoring 28 points, including the game-winner at the buzzer.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
UW has already set a school record in three-pointers this season and has become a team that just about lives and dies by the three.

It saved them against Arizona as the Huskies were behind by four points twice in the final 32 seconds of regulation, but hit three straight three-pointers in that span to send the game to overtime.

Guard Isaiah Thomas had been in a little bit of a slump from three heading into the Pac-10 Tournament. But he hit a critical three late in the opening win over Washington State and was 4-7 in the title game against Arizona. He was 8-of-16 on threes in the tournament after having been six for 29 in his previous six games.

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