A GRIP ON SPORTS • Mondays are usually pretty quiet around the Pac-12 overall and the Pacific Northwest in particular. Nothing much happens, especially in the evening. As the past year has shown us, though, you can’t take any day for granted, including the quiet days.

Washington State's regular season won't conclude with a single game at Arizona State, but rather a two-game series with the Sun Devils in Tempe.

Many anticipated that Noah Williams would be in line for conference player of the week honors after posting career-high scoring performances against Cal and Stanford, but the Washington State guard was also recognized nationally for what he did in a weekend sweep.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Why is it the Mariners haven’t enjoyed success on the field for more than two decades? Maybe the simplest answer is the front office, the folks at the top of the pyramid, are incapable of guiding the franchise in a professional manner. More evidence of that surfaced over the weekend.

There are all kinds of birds on our planet, and they migrate to different places. My friend Heather Watts, a researcher at WSU, is really curious about bird migration and told me more about how birds know where to go.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Our television viewing plans for Saturday were blown away by a couple of unexpected occurrences. Literally in one case. But we persevered and had a great day anyhow. Not as good as Noah Williams, sure, but pretty fun.

Metric measurements, altitude-adjusted times, infield events that are made impossible to follow, mish-mash qualifying procedures – track and field loves itself some inscrutability.

They showed the potential of a team that will have the chance to sit on an NCAA bubble at some point in the not-so-distant future. For now, Noah Williams and Washington State will have to settle with bursting the bubbles of their opposition.

Brett Harris and Tyler Rando had four hits and three runs batted in apiece to lead Gonzaga to a 17-5 victory over Kansas State on Saturday at the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Let’s see. What should we type words about this morning? The local college basketball scene, of course. It is Feb. 20. And something we neglected yesterday, examining the weekend from a sports-on-TV perspective.

Mya Hollingshed poured in 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Colorado held off Washington State 60-57 on Friday in Pullman.

Gonzaga baseball wait long into its season to drum up drama as the Bulldogs scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to top New Mexico 4-3 on Friday in Surprise, Arizona.

It's the most predictable aspect of every game for Noah Williams. The Washington State guard may not be able to anticipate when he'll score 20 points or when he'll go ice cold; when his verbal jabs will warrant a technical foul or when officials will look the other way; when his defense will erase the opponent's best scorer, or when it'll slip. But, without failure, Williams can always expect the call that comes afterward.

The next snaps of Luke Falk's professional career will come in the Canadian Football League.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Over the past decade or two, there has been one descriptive word that has never been used when describing a Gonzaga matchup with Saint Mary’s. Boring. Until last night. The Zags’ 87-65 victory was a methodical disrobing of their most-hated West Coast Conference rivals. But it also was part of one of the better college basketball evenings in the Inland Northwest.

Three games ago, Noah Williams scored eight points for Washington State before fouling out of a win over UCLA. Two games ago, the Washington State guard went just 2 of 13 from the field, scoring four points in a loss to USC. In his last game, the sophomore let a former AAU teammate, Washington's Marcus Tsohonis, blow by him for the game-winner in a two-point loss to WSU's in-state rival.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • This time of year, just past the ides of February, a few things are givens when talking college sports. Conference races and the upcoming tournaments, for example. Baseball season beginning. And, of course, football. Always football.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic halted, and promptly ended, Washington State's 2020 baseball season, the program's momentum rolled along through the spring, summer and fall, in the form of a $10 million, 12,000 square-foot building that began to take shape behind the third-base line.

In many ways, Washington State's young basketball team has matured and developed since its season opener against Texas Southern nearly three months ago.