BY TODD DYBAS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

Bewildered, the Huskies awaited practice.

They were dressed in sweats, half interested in the women's game they were watching. Lined up, in the same place but not yet together, in one of Bank of America's auxiliary rows.

It was Nov. 16, a day after the Huskies lost their regular season opener at Portland.

"I don't know," Justin Dentmon said. "We just tried to play too much one-on-one."

"I don't know," Isaiah Thomas said, shaking his head. "Guys just tried to do too much themselves I think."

I don't know was the consistent answer to what happened in that inconsistent opening game. Quincy Pondexter didn't score. Dentmon was 1-for-7 from behind the 3-point line. They turned it over 23 times. Portland shot 61 percent in the second half.

Saturday was another day to search for explanations.

"It's quite an amazing feeling," Pondexter said.

"I could go on about the heroes in this game," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said.

Amazing was the consistent answer early Saturday evening. Washington had just beaten Washington State, 67-60, becoming the first Huskies team to claim the Pac-10 title outright in 56 years.

Between that downtrodden November day and Saturday's bonanza, Washington merged.

It dominated at home, going 17-1, a bad bounce away from being undefeated.

Venoy Overton swallowed his move to the bench, becoming a game-changer once he entered.

Pondexter silenced critics within his head and out. His game evolving into a balanced, mature and powerful endeavor.

Thomas dynamited his way to stardom.

Dentmon put together a shooting year superior to any prior Washington shooters.

Jon Brockman was Jon Brockman. A tough leader, bruising rebounder, unaccepting of nonsense, such as alley-oops with a big lead in the game not in doubt.

This group has dispatched the last two years of mediocrity. Able to be brutish at all times, and lithe at others, versatility has enabled this resurrection.

Romar pushed and pulled the right pieces, at times leaving players on the floor to the minor irritation of those on the bench. But more times than not, those on the bench were worried about team, not self. No small feat.

Now, Washington is the Pac-10 champion. A notion Romar says he thought was feasible at the beginning of the season, though he only alerted his wife to the idea. Brockman looked around at the parts and thought the same.

"With the different pieces we have, if we can put them all together and play as a team, we're going to be real dangerous," Brockman said of his initial assessment. "We just keep getting better as a team and as a group."

It's been evident when Dentmon and Thomas combined for 55 points at Arizona State. It was evident Saturday when Dentmon and Thomas combined for 18 points. That's the way it has been since the Florida game. If someone failed, others succeeded.

A nine-man rotation has been in place all season. The starting lineup changed once. That came when Thomas was two minutes late and therefore reprimanded by not hearing his name called to start a non-conference game.

There was one inconsistency Saturday. At halftime, Washington leading by five, Romar pulled a pair of scissors from his pocket.

"That was a rare thing for him to pull out a prop," Pondexter said. "I've never seen that one. He always gets his message across at halftime."

Showing them around the room, the question was, "What kind of feeling do you want at the end of this game?"

Saturday ended with attempts at reasoning another inexplicable feeling, the same way as the Portland game. This time, the exhales and head shakes preceded thoughts attempting to explain a championship.

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