GAME NOTES: The Washington Huskies have fallen from grace after losing three straight contests, but they'll look to put a stop to that Saturday against the Washington State Cougars in a Pac-12 Conference clash at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies had won their first 11 games to open the season, and jumped into the Top-25 rankings. But with three consecutive losses to Stony Brook (62-57), California (81-75) and Stanford (68-60 OT), the Huskies have dropped from the national poll.

Washington State enters the fray owning a 7-7 overall record, though the Cougars have been victorious in three of their last four outings. They are 1-1 in Pac-12 play, with a 69-66 victory over California last Sunday serving as the team's most recent victory.

Saturday's contest will be the 280th all-time meeting between these two conference and in-state rivals. Washington owns a 178-101 series advantage over Washington State, though the two sides split last season's series.

Washington State grabbed a four-point lead at the half over California in the team's last outing, and endured a barrage of shots from the Golden Bears in the second period (which included a 48.4 shooting percentage) to hang on to the three-point victory. Josh Hawkinson tallied a double-double to pace the Cougars with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Railey netted 17 points, DaVonte Lacy chipped in with 14 points and Ike Iroegbu added 12. The Cougars were able to maintain their lead by shooting 21-of-29 from the free-throw line.

Washington State sports a scoring offense that averages 70.4 ppg this season - roughly middle of the road in the Pac-12. But the team's scoring defense has been horrendous, coming in at last in the conference rankings by giving up 72.9 ppg to opponents, who are shooting 44.8 percent against Washington State. Lacy is doing everything he can to make sure the Cougars are still getting wins, leading the team in scoring at 16.4 ppg. Hawkinson is the only other Cougars player to own a double-digit scoring average though, at 15.5 ppg with a team-best 11.0 rpg mark. On the road this season, Washington State owns a 1-5 record.

Washington and Stanford battled back and forth and were knotted up for a good portion of Sunday's clash, which consisted of seven lead changes and five tied scores. The Huskies and Cardinal were tied at 28-28 at the end of the first, then again at 56-56 when the regulation buzzer sounded. It was Stanford that connected on 4-of-5 shooting in the extra session compared to 0-of-3 for Washington. Shawn Kemp Jr. scored 19 points to lead the Huskies' scoring efforts, while Andrew Andrews tallied 13 points and Robert Upshaw added a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Mike Anderson grabbed 10 boards of his own in the loss.

Nigel Williams-Goss netted eight points in the team's loss, which was below his usual production level of 13.6 ppg. The guard did dish out five assists in the defeat, bringing his team-best season total up to 94 helpers. Andrews (11.9 ppg), Upshaw (11.1 ppg) and Upshaw (10.5 ppg) round our a group of double-digit scorers for the Huskies through 14 games played. Washington comes into Saturday averaging 70.4 ppg, and defensively is holding opponents to 60.0 ppg - fourth-best in the Pac-12 this season.

Three straight losses can absolutely be a confidence killer for any program, especially for a Washington team that was ranked in the Top-25 prior to the downward spiral. But the Huskies, at home against a heated in-state rival, should be able to finally bounce back with a strong offensive effort.