dddd The Huskies go into Fridays Pac-12 championship game against No. 9 Colorado with the top scoring defense in the conference, the No. 2 total defense and the second-best pa

For the Charlotte Hornets, a 10-8 record is respectable but based on recent trends, it is not good enough.Coming off a 48-win season, Charlotte began this season by winning eight of its first 11 games and four of its first six home games. Starting with a five-point overtime loss in New Orleans, it has been difficult for the Hornets.The Hornets look to correct some of those negative trends Thursday night when they host the struggling Dallas Mavericks.On Nov. 19, the Hornets held a 14-point lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and wound up with a 121-116 loss to the Pelicans. The loss sparked a stretch of five losses in seven games, which continued during Tuesdays 112-89 home loss to the Detroit Pistons.Theres two ways you can look at this, Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. We can come in here and do the proverbial It was the schedule and its five in seven, and theyre fresh. If you do that, you have the wrong expectations of what I think our team should be. Weve done some good things to this point, but two things that are concerning are, one, were 5-5 at home, and two, were 1/3 on the second night of a back-to-back. If those things continue to happen, then were certainly not going to be in a position where we want to be.During Charlottes skid, the defense has allowed an average of 108.1 points per game and the latest loss occurred after Detroit center Andre Drummond was ejected before halftime. The Hornets trailed by three at intermission but were outscored by 20 in the second half.Kemba Walker scored 23 points but received little help. Frank Kaminsky shot 1 of 11 and Nicolas Batum was 3 of 11.Charlottes inability to get past Detroit resulted in its third home loss in four games.We could make a lot of excuses, but we have to start winning at home, Charlotte center Cody Zeller said. We have to start winning on the second night of back-to-backs. We just didnt do enough things to win tonight.The Mavericks have dropped 10 of their last 11 games and their 3-14 start is the third-worst 17-game start in team history. Dallas has been held under 100 points in 10 of those games and 14 times overall.The latest setback for Dallas was Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs when the Mavericks held a 13-point deficit only to lose 94-87. It was the seventh single-digit loss this season for Mavericks.Im encouraged by the competitive part of this, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. Our guys have been fighting hard.Wesley Matthews scored a season-high 26 points and Harrison Barnes added 17 but neither player could get rolling down the stretch. Matthews missed six of his last seven shots while Barnes missed four of his last six attempts.Were still fighting, said Dallas guard Devin Harris, who returned from a left foot injury and played 11 minutes in his season debut. We felt like we shouldve had this one tonight. Our fight is still there. Our guys are playing their butts off and one of these days our luck is going to change. If we continue to fight this way, well win some of these games.Dallas played its 12th game without Dirk Nowitzki (strained right Achilles). Nowitzki is expected to sit again Thursday.Nowitzki missed eight games from Nov. 6-21 before returning last week against the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He scored 25 points on 10-of-28 shooting in 47 minutes before sitting out again.We got to get him right, Carlisle said. And he is getting closer. But its not going to happen this week. Next week could be a possibility, but well see.Dorian-Finney Smith has started the last seven games Nowitzki has missed but has only scored 27 points. The undrafted rookie has been playing between 18 and 27 minutes in the starting frontcourt and is 10 of 30 from the floor.The Mavericks are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.Größentabelle Schuhe Adidas . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Adidas Schuhe Sale Damen .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. http://www.schuheadidasschweiz.ch/ . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. Adidas Schuhe Günstig Online . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. Adidas Schuhe Damen Schweiz . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors.SEATTLE -- When Budda Baker gets an opportunity to sit down and watch NFL games on Sundays, or when he takes the time to watch film of the pros he would like to emulate, it all looks very familiar.He sees the same techniques, the same coverages being played by the professionals that hes been taught since arriving at Washington.Exactly to a T. We run an NFL defense, Baker said. You see certain types of techniques that those guys are doing and you see techniques that we are doing.Of all the position groups for No. 4 Washington, possibly none possesses the depth and NFL potential of the Huskies secondary. Whether its Kevin King and Sidney Jones at cornerback, or any of the combination of Baker, Jojo McIntosh, Taylor Rapp or Ezekiel Turner at safety, Washingtons defensive backfield is filled with players with a possible NFL future.It helps that Washington defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake spent five seasons coaching defensive backs in the NFL. Rather than teaching his players a style that works just in college, Lake has thrown NFL concepts at his players and made them learn.Its definitely been a process because you only get limited time with these guys, Lake said. But weve been here for three years now and so weve gotten to the point where these guys have played a lot of football, they hear the same thing over and over and weve been able to put more on their plate now in Year 3. First year obviously we had to do a good job of holding back all the information, but now these guys have come a long way.Before the season began and Washington was still being touted as a potential surprise in the Pac-12, the strength of its defensive backfield was a reason so many were high on the Huskies. There were questions elsewhere but the secondary was one area where there werent really any concerns considering the Huskies had the best scoring defense and fourth-best pass defense in the conference in 2015.Washingtons secondary has lived up to its billing for the most part this season.dddddddddddd The Huskies go into Fridays Pac-12 championship game against No. 9 Colorado with the top scoring defense in the conference, the No. 2 total defense and the second-best pass defense, giving up just 201 yards per game through the air.Of course, its Colorado thats topping the Huskies in those other two categories.I think theyre similar (to Washingtons secondary). Across the board they have good safeties, long corners, they challenge you, pressure a lot. Its very similar, Washington coach Chris Petersen said. I think there are a lot of similarities there. Even in strategy and coverage and those types of things.Baker is the most recognizable of the group with his standing as one of the top safeties in the country and one of the most important recruits for Washington since Petersen arrived. But Jones and King may be the ones with the biggest NFL upside. King, a senior, is listed at 6-foot-3, while Jones, a junior, is listed at 6 feet. They both have shown the skills to play press man coverage and handle their responsibilities when the Huskies drop into a zone.The depth of Washingtons secondary was so impressive that Rapp -- a freshman who was a reserve early in the season before moving into a more prominent role -- was named Pac-12 defensive freshman of the year Tuesday as voted on by the coaches.I would define us as tough, very, very competitive. I dont think there is going to be too many easy throws out there, King said. (Were) just a team that is going to fight to the end. If you beat us one play youll have to beat us the next. Thats our mentality. I think (Colorado) has that same mentality, too, so Im pretty excited to see that matchup on both sides of the ball.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '