By Phil Taylor,SI.com

One Shining Moment

Washington's 5-9 Nate Robinson came up big as the No. 1 seed Huskies advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. AP

Pacific made one last run at Washington midway through the second half, cutting a 17-point lead to 74-65. It was beginning to feel like one of those frantic tournament games that high seeds like the Huskies dread -- an upstart team getting increasingly confident and the unattached fans in the crowd beginning to cheer for the underdog. But that's when Washington's 5-foot-9 mighty mite, Nate Robinson, played big. Robinson hit a tough, leaning jumper near the foul line, then drove through a forest of taller players for a layup on the next possession that put the Huskies back in control for good.

"In big games," said Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, "you can almost see him grow before your very eyes."

Player I Saw Who I Really Liked

The Washington fans in the crowd chanted Bobby Jones' name when he went to the bench for good late in the second half, and for good reason. Despite Robinson's heroics, Jones, the Huskies' small forward and defensive specialist, was the best player on the floor Saturday. He scored eight of Washington's first 10 points by doing a little bit of everything offensively -- hitting a 3-pointer, crashing the offensive boards for a layup and running the floor for a fast-break dunk -- and the energized Huskies never really looked back. But his biggest contribution came at the other end of the floor, where he absolutely blanketed Christian Maraker, Pacific's leading scorer. Maraker scored 12 points while Jones was resting in the first half, and he never scored again. It was a brilliant, lock-down defensive performance by one of Washington's unsung heroes.

Courtside Confidential

The Huskies drew extra motivation from Pacific coach Bob Thomason's comments the day before the game. Thomason reminded the media that Pacific had won two NCAA Tournament games to Washington's one over the last two years and suggested that the Tigers were the more experienced tournament team. Washington assistant Ken Bone read some of Thomason's quotes to the players just before the game. "It definitely got us hyped," said guard Brandon Roy. ... Jones quickly started jawing at Pacific's Maraker in the first half. After getting inside position on Maraker to score on a putback, he ran back down the court side-by-side with the stone-faced Maraker, "Am I in your head yet? You know I'm in your head, don't you?" ... The Pacific radio team tried to put a good face on things for their listeners, but during a timeout in the second half, one of the announcers checked to make sure they were off the air, then sighed and said to no one in particular, "Our defense stinks today."

Championship formula

The Huskies put together an impressive display of offense and defense on Saturday and look every bit like a No. 1 seed as they head to Albuquerque for the Sweet Sixteen. Their biggest supposed flaw, their lack of size underneath, wasn't a problem at all as their quickness and pressure defense made it difficult for Pacific to get the ball inside to its big men. Thomason still wasn't quite convinced, however, even after seeing his team get manhandled by the Huskies.

"I wouldn't classify them as a great defensive team," he said. "They do have some vulnerabilty defensively as far as giving people easy shots and second shots. It's not a big weakness, but it is a weakness, and it's going to be interesting to see how much longer they can compensate for it."