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FROM PULLMAN — With just one game on the schedule this week, Ken Bone pushed his weekly press conference back to Wednesday after giving the team Tuesday off. We have a summary of his comments below.

Here's a poll for every high school basketball fan in every classification in our region.

As I write this, the Eastern men's basketball team is at the Spokane airport for its trip to Pocatello, Idaho, and Thursday night's game at Idaho State.  The Eagles will fly first to Las Vegas, then catch another flight to Salt Lake City, then take a three-hour bus ride to Pocatello. “It's one of the tougher trips in the Big Sky,” coach Jim Hayford said. And then there's a game to play.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

We've always prided ourselves on being a full-service blog station. We not only fill up your computer screen with tales from the professional, collegiate and prep worlds, but we check under the hood to give you news you can use as well. And that tradition continues today. Read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — We said the week would get busier as it progressed, and we weren't lying. More WSU reading material awaits you after the jump, should you choose to soldier on.

Idaho coach Don Verlin spoke with the media on Tuesday. I've got a summary of his thoughts below. The Vandals, 16-11, have won five straight and finish the regular season with three huge WAC games — all on the road.

Lots more after the jump.

Back with a notebook from Gonzaga's practice and media day on Tuesday.

One of the biggest games of the season is approaching with BYU, which thumped Gonzaga in Provo, visiting the Bulldogs on Thursday. We checked in with coaches Dave Rose (BYU) and Mark Few (Gonzaga), explored Gonzaga's home-vs.-road statistics and updated Noah Hartsock's status in an article that will run in Wednesday's S-R.

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FROM PULLMAN — The basketball team has the day off, but Ken Bone still called into the Pac-12 coaches teleconference. We have a summary of that below.

…and almost everyone else in the Big Sky Conference (sorry, NAU). The Eagles get three games in six days, including two against Idaho State and one at Portland State. So where will the Eags wind up in the postseason? It's way too complicated, but if they can at least win two of these next three, it's a good bet the Eagles will host a first-round conference playoff game on March 3.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

If I really wanted to take a day off, today would be the day. Nothing much in the way of local stories, not a lot from the local college's conference connections and very little from the professional ranks. But those are often the days when, while trying to find tracings, you end up with nuggets. And we found one. Read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — It's about to be a busy week, but for now, we take a minimalist approach with our Pac-12 links. Because there aren't very many of them.

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FROM PULLMAN — We have some scheduling news for you, plus a note about D.J. Shelton's citation over the weekend.

A week after dropping out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Gonzaga University women’s basketball team returned to the poll at No. 25. The Bulldogs received 75 votes. Also announced on Monday, senior forward Kelly Bowen was named West Coast Conference Player of the Week for the first time in her career at Gonzaga. More below.

As expected, the Gonzaga men’s basketball team slipped out of the Top 25 rankings in both major polls following a 66-65 loss at San Francisco on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (21-5, 11-3 WCC), No. 24 last week in A.P. and ESPN/USA Today, dropped into the others receiving votes category. They’re 27^th in A.P. and 29^th in ESPN/USA Today.

BYU, which visits Gonzaga on Thursday, is just behind GU at 28^th in A.P. Conference-leading Saint Mary’s, which lost twice last week, dropped from No. 16 to No. 23 in ESPN/USA Today and fell from No. 21 out of the A.P. rankings.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

How do you decide whether a day is a holiday or not? Is it whether the kids are in school, because that seems to mean there are a lot more holidays than there used to be. Or is when you don't have to work on a usual work day, because that would seem to indicate that there are a lot less holidays than there used to be. Me, I go by the garbage index. If the trash is picked up the regular day, then that means there was no holiday that week. So today, under my criteria, is not really a holiday. And we will treat it as such here. Read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — This is Peter Gibbons' kind of Monday — a holiday, a day off from school, and a day off from work. For most, anyway. There isn't much out there in terms of news, but we've put together what links we found for your morning post.

SEATTLE - Spokane Chiefs goalie Mac Engel stopped 18 shots and the Chiefs ended a season-high four-game losing streak with their first shutout victory of the season – a 3-0 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Western Hockey League action Sunday.

Dominik Uher, Collin Valcourt and Liam Stewart all scored for the Chiefs (32-30-4-3, 71 points), who are fifth in the Western Conference standings behind Vancouver (35-22-1-3, 74 points). Stewart's line has been on a tear. The goal was the rookie's fourth in five games.

The Chiefs are Portland on Friday and return home to host Tri-City on Saturday. The Chiefs need to win the next three games against the Americans to go .500 against their U.S. Division rivals this season.

I wrote nearly all of this before 10 a.m, but tight connections kept me from posting it until now.

Entertaining game last night with a closing stretch that pretty much went opposite of the first 36 minutes.

Gonzaga and San Francisco weren’t any trouble scoring – outside of the Bulldogs’ season-high 22 turnovers obviously – as GU took a 65-64 lead with 3:45 left. Both teams were shooting in the mid-50 percent range before defenses took over late, with the exception of Rashad Green’s game-deciding 7-footer in the lane with 3.3 seconds left.

You know the day-after drill.

The links: My game story, San Francisco Chronicle and A.P. Elsewhere, Saint Mary’s lost again in a non-conference matchup with Murray State, but GU’s loss leaves the Gaels alone in first place and two wins from ending the Zags’ run of WCC titles at 11. BYU joined Gonzaga in second place at 11-3 with a road win over Santa Clara.

Read on.   

A GRIP ON SPORTS

I'm not a rollercoaster guy. Mainly it has to do with heights – to say I hate them is an understatement; it's more like an irrational fear – but it also has to do with the constant up and downs. Speed is fine. Give me a ride that races around corners and stretches the boundaries of centrifugal force anytime. But rollercoasters? No thanks. What does this have to do with sports? I think you know. Read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — We have some more notes, quotes and Pac-12 links to brighten your Sunday. Read on.