A GRIP ON SPORTS • The easy thing to say is we want to give you time to get ready for a full Sunday of sports-ball watching on your favored device. But it wouldn’t be the truth. All of it anyway.

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• It was a tough night. With not much sleep. Part of it was the crud we’ve been dealing with. Part of it was the old dog, who underwent cancer surgery earlier in the week and has been miserable. Not because of the surgery but because of the satellite-dish-looking cone he’s wearing.

Anyhow, after being awake most of the dark hours, we didn’t wake up at the usual time. Not even close. So, we’re skipping our thoughts on the world of sports and heading straight to the links.

Can’t have you miss the important stuff, can we?

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WSU: We watched much of Kansas City’s win over Jacksonville yesterday, staying put mainly because of Patrick Mahomes’ injury and the uncertainty it engendered. Which means we saw Jaylen Watson’s interception as it happened. Didn’t think we would have a Colton Clark story about it to link this morning though. We do. … Colorado is struggling. The Cougars will be in Boulder today. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, Washington certainly isn’t Oregon but the Huskies are up-and-down. They lost 88-61 at Utah yesterday. The Utes overpowered them. … The Ducks? Wow. Beat the good teams like Arizona and then lose 71-64 at Stanford, the Pac-12’s last-place resident. … The best game of the day, of course, was in Tucson, where 11th-ranked Arizona showed its mettle (and grit) in holding off fifth-ranked UCLA 58-52, snapping the Bruins’ 14-game winning streak. … USC handed host Arizona State a second consecutive loss on the weekend, winning 77-69. … In football news, the Husky returnees all seem to share a single goal. … Reser Stadium will be state-of-the-art soon. … What’s going to happen now that the conference has admitted some wrongdoing in a financial arrangement with a TV partner? Not even Jon Wilner knows.  

Gonzaga: The defense? Not so good. Drew Timme? Not so bad. Great actually. It took almost all of his career high 38 points – he missed two late free throws which would have given him 40 – for the Zags to top mediocre Pacific 99-90. Theo Lawson has the game story. … Jim Meehan covered the defense’s lapses and the difference makers. … Tyler Tjomsland has the photo report. … The folks in the office put together a recap with highlights. … For what it’s worth, our son swears this is the GU team that will get hot in March and win the NCAA title. … The women returned to form with an 82-57 win at Saint Mary’s. Jim Allen has the coverage. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Saint Mary’s remains on top the standings and it seems the Gaels are getting better. They hammered Santa Clara 77-58. … USF has also righted the ship after upending BYU 82-74 last night.  

EWU: Undefeated. The Eagles remain that way in the Big Sky after a late rally lifted them to a 79-76 victory over host Northern Arizona. Eastern is at least two games ahead of any conference challengers. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State is the closest pursuer after its rare 67-64 win over Montana in Missoula. The Bobcats won both ends of the doubleheader with the Griz. … Weber State defeated visiting Sacramento State 50-48. … Portland State picked up a 72-65 road win at Idaho State.

Idaho: Northern Colorado stayed strong down the stretch and held off the visiting Vandals 73-67 in Greeley.  

Whitworth: The Pirates fell behind early and couldn’t rally, falling 86-79 at Linfield.

NIC and CCS: The two met last night at Spokane Falls CC with the Cardinal keeping their undefeated season alive, 100-83. Luke Pickett has the game story.

Preps: Dave Nichols took in a late-season interstate girls’ game in Coeur d’Alene, where the Viks handed GSL-leading Mead a 63-36 loss. A large part of the edge came from the free throw line, with CdA holding a 20-point margin. … Dave also has a roundup of other action Saturday.

Chiefs: Spokane picked up a home win last night, scoring three times in the third period to take the 6-3 decision. Kevin Dudley has the story.

Track and field: Olympian Cole Hocker will be part of next weekend’s meet at The Podium. John Blanchette has a story about his recent struggles.

Mariners: Can J.P. Crawford return to health and to form? The M’s hope so.

Kraken: Defending NHL champ Colorado came to Seattle last night and left with a shootout win. The point Seattle earned wasn’t enough to keep them in first place in the West but the Kraken still feel they will be contenders.

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• One consequence of the dog’s surgery? We may have to repaint the walls in the spring. He’s been scraping a lot of paint off them with his cone of shame. Until later …