Washington can gain ground in the CFP rankings. The Huskies have already gotten help with Houston knocking off Louisville -- No. 5 in the CFP rankings -- meaning a win over the Sun Devils should move the Huskies to the cusp of th

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- First-half foul trouble prevented Ebuka Izundu from contributing to his teammates dominant run.Izundu more than did his share in the second half as he scored all 14 of his team-high points to lead Miami to a 92-43 win over Western Carolina in the season opener for both teams on Friday night.All my teammates told me to keep my head in the game, said Izundu, who committed two offensive fouls 30 seconds into the game and sat out the rest of the half. That what I did, try to help my team win.Izundu shot 5 of 5 from the field in his first start for the Hurricanes after a reserve role during his freshman season.The Hurricanes started with an 18-4 spurt and maintained the double-digit lead the rest of the game, the first between both teams. Davon Reed keyed Miamis early run with a 3-pointer and a dunk.Right from the start we showed a lot of focus, intensity, team work, helping each other defensively, Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. At the offensive end, we shared the ball.JaQuan Newton, Kamari Murphy and Dewan Huell finished with 13 points each for Miami. Murphy scored 11 points in the first half and also finished with eight rebounds.Defensively we were great and we shared the ball, Murphy said. Thats the way basketball should be played.D.J. Vasiljevics 3-pointer with 58 seconds remaining in the half gave Miami a 41-18 lead. Vasiljevic was the Hurricanes fifth double scorer with 11 points.Three Western Carolina starters sat most of the first half because of foul trouble. Marc Gosselin committed four fouls in eight minutes and Devin Peterson and Charlendez Brooks had three each.Deriece Parks and Onno Steger scored 10 points each for the Catamounts.We were very outmanned to be honest with you, Western Carolina coach Larry Hunter said. I thought their length early on and speed of the game first seven-eight minutes we werent ready for that. First game jitters -- our execution wasnt very good and they took advantage of that.HIGHLIGHT REEL: Huell, the Hurricanes highly-regarded freshman, scored his first college points on a slam dunk 3:08 into the game. Huell followed the dunk with a three-point play midway through the first half.HOMECOMING DEBUT: Catamounts freshman guard Maurice Smith, of neighboring Lauderdale Lakes, played 14 minutes in the second half. Smith was scoreless and had two assists.BIG PICTURE:Miami: The early signing period rewarded the Hurricanes with two players ranked in the top 100, according to recruiting services. Miamis early signees and members of the 2017-18 freshman class are 5-foot-7 guard Chris Lykes, of Gonzaga College High in Bowie, Md., Deng Gak, a 6-foot-11 forward from Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey.Western Carolina: The Catamounts are 3-31 against ACC teams. Their last victory against a team from a Power Five conference was in 2001, when they defeated Florida State, 79-69. The Catamounts defeated then Big East-member Louisville in 2009.UP NEXT:Miami: the Hurricanes make their first road trip of the season Wednesday at North Florida. Miami is 3-0 in the all-time series against the Ospreys with the three victories at home.Western Carolina: the Catamounts open their 2016-17 home schedule against Hiwassee on Sunday afternoon. Western Carolina plays eight of its first 10 on the road.Gleyber Torres Yankees Jersey . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. Joe DiMaggio Jersey . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. https://www.cheapyankees.com/1391g-mark-teixeira-jersey-yankees.html . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. Joe Pepitone Jersey .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Johnny Damon Yankees Jersey . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker.SEATTLE -- Looking back, Washingtons collapse in the desert last November is where it all changed.The Huskies melted down in the second half against Arizona State, watching a 14-point lead disappear into a 27-17 loss that put them on the verge of missing the postseason.It proved to be the game that led to the rise of No. 7 Washington this year. The Huskies have won 12 of 13 games since that loss and will close out their home slate on Saturday hosting Arizona State with far more at stake than that game in Tempe, Arizona, a year ago.The Huskies 12-game win streak was snapped last week by USC, putting into peril Washingtons hopes of a spot in the College Football Playoff. The Huskies (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12, No. 6 CFP) know they must win out to have a chance of being in the top four.Thats not as simple as it sounds. Arizona State has won 10 straight meetings with the Huskies and Saturdays game will be followed by the Apple Cup in Pullman and a possible Pac-12 title game.If youre just so disappointed because of this loss with all this football left to be played then youre in the wrong locker room and you havent been hearing a word that weve been talking about, Washington coach Chris Petersen said. Theres a lot of football left and awesome things to play for and all that stuff.Last weeks loss exposed issues that have otherwise been masked for most of the season. Washingtons pass rush was non-existent against USC, giving Sam Darnold plenty of time to find gaps in the secondary. The Huskies offensive line struggled to establish the running game. The Huskies were held to 17 yards rushing as a team, their fewest since having just 13 yards in a 2006 loss at Oregon.Jake Browning threw two interceptions and the Huskies were held to their lowest point total since the 2015 season opener.I dont think our protection was as good as it has been overall, Petersen said. Toward the end you kind of get into that trying to make some stuff happen and that kind of never really goes great.Arizona State (4-6, 2-5) may be just the opponent to allow Washington to get back on track.dddddddddddd The Sun Devils are last in the Pac-12 in pass defense, giving up nearly 400 yards per game through the air, and have allowed at least 37 points in four straight games. Washington wide receiver John Ross has at least 100 yards receiving in three of the past four games.(John) Ross is probably the most dynamic player in our league, Arizona State coach Todd Graham said.Other things to watch as the Huskies and Sun Devils meet for the 34th time:TAKE ADVANTAGE: Washington can gain ground in the CFP rankings. The Huskies have already gotten help with Houston knocking off Louisville -- No. 5 in the CFP rankings -- meaning a win over the Sun Devils should move the Huskies to the cusp of the top four.Last week, Clemson had lost before the Huskies even took the field against USC yet Washington was unable to capitalize on the opportunity.SACK ATTACK: Arizona State allowed 11 sacks and 22 tackles for loss last week against Utah as the Sun Devils offensive line was unable to protect quarterback Manny Wilkins. Thats good news for Washington, which has just four sacks in four games since losing sack leader Joe Mathis to a foot injury in mid-October.EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: The big play has been a key for Washington all season and a vulnerability for Arizona State. The Huskies were held to just three plays of 20 yards or more against USC, one of those from Ross on their first offensive play. Arizona State gave up big plays against Utah with the Utes scoring four touchdowns of 20 yards or more.STEPPING IN: D.J. Beavers is expected to start at middle linebacker for Washington after leading tackler Azeem Victor was lost for the remainder of the regular season with a broken bone in his lower right leg. Beavers took over last week after Victor was injured and had six tackles but the Trojans also exposed his inexperience at times.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 . ' ' '