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Washington suffered its first loss of the season last week, but its hopes still flicker for a berth in the College Football Playoff.The seventh-ranked Huskies (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12) still control their destiny in the Pac-12 North, needing to beat struggling Arizona State (5-5, 2-5) at home on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX) before finishing the regular season at division-leading Washington State.We do just need to respond, said Washington coach Chris Petersen, whose team lost 26-13 at home to USC last weekend.I hope our guys have a new edge to them a little bit, but I do think theyve done a good job all season long, like Ive been saying, about preparing. They played hard. Both sides played really, really hard. It wasnt about that at all.Washingtons weak nonconference schedule -- Rutgers, Idaho, Portland State -- continues to be an issue as the Huskies now need help to reach the playoff. But they have a chance to impress late in the season, by beating the Cougars and then facing a ranked champion from the Pac-12 South, possibly even getting a rematch against USC.But first up is Arizona State, which has lost four games in a row, allowing at least 37 points in each of them. The Sun Devils have given up 103 total points to Oregon and Utah in the past two outings.Allowing explosive plays has been at the forefront of ASUs undoing.The Sun Devils have allowed 64 plays of 20-plus yards (tied for 121st out of 128 teams nationally), 34 plays of 30-plus yards (123rd), 24 plays of 40-plus yards (127th), 16 plays of 50-plus yards (127th) and 11 plays of 60-plus yards (tied for 126th).For more evidence, see last weeks 49-26 home loss to Utah.The Utes scored on a 64-yard pass, a 27-yard pass, a 17-yard pass, an 82-yard run, a 24-yard pass and a 40-yard run.The story of the whole game, when you go back and look at the film, my only impression is just big plays, said coach Todd Graham. Thats been the big deal. Its just frustrating.Although stonewalled by USC, Washington has all kinds of explosive potential. The Huskies scored 70 against Oregon and 66 vs. Cal this season. The trio of wide receiver John Ross, running back Myles Gaskin and quarterback Jake Browning can provide plenty of fireworks.Browning, after completing 17 of 36 passes for 259 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions against USC, dropped from first to third nationally in passing efficiency with a rating of 189.1.Gaskin was held to 51 yards rushing on 15 carries last week, but he did go over 1,000 yards for the season and is averaging 6.0 yards per carry. Ross, one of 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nations top wideout, picked up his 15th touchdown reception of the season last week.Ross is probably the most dynamic player in our league, Graham said. I would say explosive plays and defense are the two things when I think of them.Washingtons defense has been superb, ranking ninth nationally in points allowed (17.9 per game) and 19th in total defense (336.8). The Huskies lead the nation in turnover margin (plus 1.5 per game).But Washington is now without two of its top two defenders against the run. Linebacker Joe Mathis (foot) was already out for the season and linebacker Azeem Victor suffered a foot injury last week that will keep him sidelined.Redshirt freshman DJ Beavers will replace Victor, who has a team-high 68 tackles.I think he filled in pretty well, Petersen said of Beavers.He made some tackles, played aggressive, played tough. Its hard when you lose a player like Azeem, for sure, but it was not like this, Oh, now we have no chance type of thing. He was right there playing physical.Arizona State has some weapons on offense, although quarterback Manny Wilkins, who has dealt with injuries in recent weeks, looked rusty Saturday against Utah, throwing two interceptions and being sacked nine times.Arizona State uses running back Kalen Ballage in a variety of ways, including taking direct snaps. He is coming off his second consecutive game with 200-plus all-purpose yards, rolling up 244 against Utah -- a career-high 118 receiving, 46 rushing and 80 in the return game.Wide receiver NKeal Harry, a talented true freshman, is coming off his best game. He had eight catches for a career-high 114 yards, rushed for 31 yards on a broken play after he dropped a lateral, and completed a 46-yard pass. Hell have interesting matchups this week against Washington cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Kevin King. Eddy Pineiro Jersey . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Duke Shelley Jersey . 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Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. The Connecticut Sun started their post-Olympic run to the playoffs with a win over Minnesota, the second-best team in the WNBA at home on Friday. To keep their recent surge going strong the Sun will have to bring their best game with them on Sunday when they travel to Atlanta to square off against the Dream at Philips Arena.Connecticut (9-16) is rising thanks to a three-game win streak and a surge that has seen the Sun garner victories in six of their past nine contests. Their win against Minnesota featured six double-figure scorers (Alyssa Thomas paced the attack with 15 points) and was Connecticuts second against the Lynx (who have lost just five games) this season.All that is grand but the Sun is still on the outside of the WNBAs new playoff structure, in which the top eight teams regardless of conference earn spots in the postseason. Connecticut was in 10th entering Saturday nights games around the league.Even though Connecticut is fighting for its playoff life, the game is just as important to Atlanta (13-13), the fifth seed. The top four finishers gain first-round playoff byes annd, because the initial two rounds of the postseason are single-elimination, the last thing the Dream wants to do is get into a winner-take-all situation.ddddddddddddAtlanta lost 90-82 on the road to Chicago (currently the sixth seed) on Friday in the two teams return to the regular season after the month-long break for the Rio Summer Olympics despite Angel McCoughtrys 22 points and Elizabeth Williams 20 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots.The Dream has played Connecticut three times already this season and has won all three but each game went down the wire, with two decided by six points and the third a four-point Atlanta victory.Atlanta could get a boost with the potential return of Sancho Lyttle, who was originally thought to be out for the season after a left foot injury on July 15th but now is expected to be back in late August. At the time of her injury, Lyttle led the league in steals at 2.2 per game and was fifth in rebounds at 8.5 per game. ' ' '