EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For most Big Ten Conference football teams, a step-down game is one to put in the win column.After being blown out by now No. 8 Washington in Chris Ashs coaching debut at Rutgers, its hard to know what to expect when the Scarlet Knights face Howard on Saturday.Rutgers did not play well in dropping a 48-13 decision to the Huskies. They trailed 24-0 after the first quarter, 34-3 at the half and 48-3 after three quarters.Howard will be playing its second straight Big Ten foe. It opened with a 52-13 loss to Maryland in a game it trailed 42-0 after three quarters.Howard gives us as a program another opportunity to go out and show that were improving, and weve got to go out and compete to show that we came back from last Saturday, Ash said.Since taking the Rutgers job, Ash has insisted that rebuilding the program isnt solely about wins and losses.What drives me is to get a team of individuals, coaches and players to go out and try to perform to our potential, he said. Did that happen Saturday? No, it did not, and thats what Im really disappointed about. Do I hope we win every game? Absolutely, and thats what we want and thats what everybody wants, but at the end of the day -- at the start of it, I want us to be a program that goes out and performs to our full potential every chance that we get.Howard coach Gary Harrell said his team had chances against Maryland early and did not make the plays.You have to play better and you limit the mistakes if you want to get the results that you ultimately want, Harrell said of playing teams in a higher category.LAVIANO IN CHARGEChris Laviano won the starting job as Rutgers quarterback and thats not changing after an up-and-down performance against Washington.Ash stressed that Laviano has to protect the ball better. He put it in jeopardy while running and again when he was under a pass rush.He put the ball in harms way, and he needs to get that fixed, Ash said. Thats a big deal. We talked a lot about that in the decision making process to name Chris the starter. Chris has earned the right to be the starter here based on what hes done from spring and summer and through training camp, but he needs to protect the football.GOOD STARTHoward receiver Kyle Anthony was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rookie of the week. The 6-foot-3 freshman from Miramar, Fla. caught a game-high 7 passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Maryland. Two of his other receptions went for first downs.LAST DANCEThis will be the final game between Rutgers and Howard for the foreseeable future. The Big Ten Conference frowns on its football teams playing against FCS opponents, and Rutgers will no longer play the Bison. Its last game against an FCS team will be next season versus Morgan State.Rutgers has won each of the previous four games against Howard by a combined 165-39 margin. All games have been played in Piscataway, with the last one ending in a 38-25 win.PRESIDENTIAL MEETINGPresident Barack Obama spoke at three college commencements last spring: Air Force, Rutgers and Howard.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org Swell Cyber Monday Sale . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Hydro Flask Cyber Monday . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. http://www.waterbottleblackfriday.com/ . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Hydro Flask Black Friday . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Hydro Flask Black Friday Sale . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. SAN ANTONIO -- If the San Antonio Spurs werent aware of how poorly theyve played in the opening half of most games this season, they were forcefully reminded recently.After coach Gregg Popovich called out their professionalism and effort, the Spurs rebounded from their first road loss of the season with their most efficient home performance.Kawhi Leonard had 30 points and the Spurs set five season highs, rolling to a 130-101 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.The Spurs led by as many as 38 three days after what Popovich deemed another 24-minute effort in a 95-91 defeat at Chicago.We have so many professional guys and veteran guys, it shouldnt take him to do that, San Antonio reserve guard Patty Mills said, but it definitely affected everyone to know that weve got to lace them up here and do what we do. No one messing around.The Spurs set season highs for points, points in a quarter, points in a half, assists and 3-pointers in winning their 14th straight at home over the Nets. San Antonio also matched its largest margin of victory, set in a season-opening win over Golden State.It feels good, especially to do it at home, said point guard Tony Parker, who had a season-high seven assists. Weve been struggling a little bit at home. We had a good start today. Energy was good. And we kept it for the whole game.The Spurs effort through the opening 36 minutes enabled them to sit Leonard in the final quarter, which was the only time the Nets could slow the sleek 6-foot-7 forward.Leonard was 10 for 18 from the field, including 4 for 7 on 3s, in scoring 30 points or more for the seventh time this season. He had four 30-point games in his previous 324 career games.San Antonio was 14 for 26 on 3-pointers.They execute their offense with pace, Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said. They are tough to chase around; they really share (the ball). It was a great challenge for us and we werent up to it.After a string of anemic starts at home that had frustrated the Spurs, San Antonio set season highs for points in any quarter and any half with a 41-point effort in the opening period that helped produce a 67-52 lead at halftime.The 41 points in the first quarter were nine more than the Spurs had against Chicago in the first half.We didnt like the way we played, Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili said. We needed to feel better about the way we played.dddddddddddd.San Antonio had five assists on its first six baskets, with Parker collecting a pair of assists off bounce passes for mid-range jumpers from LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol. The Spurs had a season-high 38 assists.Bojan Bogdanovic led Brooklyn with 20 points.TIP-INSNets: Brooklyn has not won consecutive games all season. ... Nets F Trevor Booker, who has a team-high nine double-doubles, finished with nine points and four rebounds. ... The Nets have not won in San Antonio since Jan. 22, 2002, losing 14 straight on the road against the Spurs. ... The Nets are 1-9 on the road this season. . Brooklyn PG Jeremy Lin missed the game due to a strained left hamstring. ... The Nets have 50 games missed due to injuries this season.Spurs: San Antonio is 40-4 against the Nets at home, the best home record by a team against an opponent in NBA history. ... San Antonio is 13-0 when scoring 100 points or more. ... Gasol had three assists and passed former Lakers big man Vlade Divac for third all-time among those 7-feet or taller. Gasol has 3,543 career assists, placing him behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar (5,660) and Wilt Chamberlain (4,643). ... The Spurs previous high for any quarter was 39 points in the third against the Lakers on Nov. 18. The teams previous high for the opening period was 31 in the season-opening win against Golden State.WORTH WATCHINGThe Spurs gave the Nets plenty of film to watch on how to execute properly.One thing thats great seeing a team like that is watching how they move the ball, how they share the ball (and) how quick their decisions are, Atkinson said. Its good for us as a coaching staff and good for our players to kind of feel that and feel what its like. Hopefully one day we will try to imitate that.ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENTSan Antonio might have the NBAs second-best record at 19-5, but the Spurs know they still have much to improve on.I think in this case we can, Ginobili said. I dont think youre going to find anybody in this locker room that feels satisfied with the way we are playing. We all know we can do so much better. The record is not that important when youre not playing well.UP NEXTNets: At Houston on Monday.Spurs: Host Boston on Wednesday. ' ' '