BY TODD DYBAS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

With his brother, Jrue, coming to town, Justin Holiday ended up in the media spotlight last week.

Holiday fielded more questions than at any other point of his two-year career playing for the Huskies. Inquiries ranging from the sleeping arrangement with his younger brother, to his preferred nickname among the numerous fans have bestowed upon him.

Turns out the Holidays always shared a room. Justin has also settled on "The Fireman" as preferred extended nomenclature.

Holiday helped extinguish any thoughts of an Arizona State win during Washington's 84-71 triumph Saturday over the Sun Devils.

In a slight shuffle of the rotation, Holiday was the first Husky off the bench. Checking in with the Huskies, off to another lead-footed start, trailing 8-4 at the time, Holiday immediately grabbed a defensive rebound. He followed it with an offensive one, which resulted in a tip-in. The next defensive possession, Holiday came away with the rebound again.

Holiday later grabbed an offensive rebound, then kicked it out to Justin Dentmon. Dentmon was shooting with Swiss-watch precision, and Holiday's pass resulted in another 3-pointer. The make swelled Washington's lead to 18-12. The Huskies were down four points when Holiday checked in, four minutes later they led by six.

With no famous brother to get writers flocking his way, Huskies power forward Darnell Gant goes about the mundane in anonymity. Saturday, his main job was to harass Arizona State scoring maven James Harden. Gant's go-go gadget arms and overall athleticism proved worthy assets, enabling him to limit the conference's leading scorer to five points at the half. Gant was not solely responsible for locking up Harden, but his high hedging and denials resulted in stifled rhythm for Harden.

These two help form the underbelly of Washington's success this season. Their statistics have all the shine of burned rubber, but their contributions are invaluable.

"Those guys helped us in every way," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said on the postgame radio show. "We do not win without those guys."

So make a new bullet entry on the tournament resume. Instead of being swept during their desert duels, the Huskies went into Arizona State and handle the highest-ranked team in the conference.

Next week a road sweep is feasible, the Huskies going to Cal then Stanford, both moving backward since visiting Bank of America Arena at the beginning of January.

When the Stanford game ends, Washington will be done with a four-game road jaunt. Six of the remaining eight games are at home, giving Washington (16-5, 7-2) an opportunity to finish at the top of the conference. An opportunity that wouldn't exist without the selfless, effective play of Holiday and Gant.

Todd Dybas is the editor of Seattlesportsonline.com. He can be reached via e-mail at tdybas@seattlesportsonline.com