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Utah’s momentum builds with another home blowout win

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Utah’s momentum builds with another home blowout win


Utah has found a good bit of its stride again as the men’s basketball season has reached March.

The Runnin’ Utes easily ran past Cal 88-59 at the Huntsman Center on Saturday night, their second blowout win in three nights as they wrapped up their home slate of the regular season.

Utah coach Craig Smith said his veteran team “played super, super connected all week.”

“Proud of our guys, how we responded, because there’s certainly been some tough times here recently and our guys really galvanized,” he said.

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Utah’s third win in the past four games sets it up with momentum heading into the final week of the regular season and gives some renewed hope to its NCAA Tournament bid.

It was an especially sweet night for Utah’s seniors, as the school honored Branden Carlson, Gabe Madsen, Ben Carlson and Cole Bajema before the game.

Then Branden Carlson displayed so much of what Utah fans have come to love about him during his time on the hill. He finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks while shooting 12 of 17 from the floor and 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

“It’s Senior Night — it’s his last game in the Huntsman — and it means something to him. I mean, that dudes a five-year guy here growing up in this state, just means a little bit more and (he) played like you’d expect that kind of guy to play,” Smith said.

Carlson scored 17 of his points in the first half.

His first 3 of the night put Utah ahead 15-7, then later in the first half he knocked down his second 3, added a block on the other end, then got a putback slam shortly thereafter to give Utah its first double-digit lead.

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By night’s end, when Carlson subbed out for the final time, the hometown fans gave their fifth-year senior a hearty cheer.

“Damn good. It’s feels good,” Carlson said when asked about his night. “I’m pretty emotional, last game in the Huntsman Center.”

As tears welled up in his eyes, Carlson continued, “You know, I love this program and my time here, just to be able to get another win with this team. We’ve still got more to go and accomplish.”

“You know, I love this program and my time here, just to be able to get another win with this team. We’ve still got more to go and accomplish.”

—  Utah center Branden Carlson

The Utes (18-11, 9-9 Pac-12) set the tone in the paint, outrebounding the Golden Bears 47-29, including 13-7 on the offensive glass. That helped Utah own a 15-2 edge in second-chance points.

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Combine that with a tough defensive effort that held Cal to 34.4% shooting from the field, and there was plenty to celebrate at the Huntsman Center on the cold, wintry night.

“I think a big key to being a good rebounding team is your guards (have) got to be able to rebound and I thought we showed a lot of discipline tonight,” Smith said.

Cal lost a starter with just over five minutes left in the first half when Keonte Kennedy was assessed a flagrant 2 foul after review. He appeared to hit Utah’s Hunter Erickson below the belt while driving to the hoop.

It was an overall effective first half for Utah, which went into intermission with a 42-32 lead. While Cal never fully went away, the Utes never let them get too close, either.

Deivon Smith got to 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game and finished the night with yet another solid stat line, with 18 points, 10 assists and four rebounds.

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3 takeaways

Top performers: Branden Carlson finished with 30 points while shooting 12 of 17 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range. He also had 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Deivon Smith put up 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals as Utah had three players in double-figures.

Jalen Cone paced the Cal effort with 19 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Key stretch: The Utes went on a 7-0 run over a three-minute stretch to push their lead up to 58-41 with 11:56 remaining. Utah added an 11-2 run later to push the lead out to a then-game high 27 points heading into the contest’s final five minutes.

Key stats: The Utes dominated the boards, ending the night with a 47-29 advantage. Utah had an 13-7 edge in offensive rebounds and outscored the Golden Bears 15-2 in second-chance points.

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The Utes also shot 50.8% from the floor, including 58.6% in the second half, while holding Cal to 34.4%.

The Utes then put the game away in the second half, breaking the contest open with a 7-0 run over a three-minute stretch that pushed their lead to 58-41.

After the Golden Bears kept it relatively even over the next few minutes, Utah again went on a run, this time an 11-2 spurt, to put the matchup on ice as the Utes built a game-high 27-point lead.

Two nights after a posterizing moment landed him in SportsCenter’s top 10 plays, Deivon Smith had another highlight-reel play, throwing down a thunderous dunk off a Madsen assist in transition with 7:25 to go.

Madsen, too, had a memorable second half, as he scored 14 of his 17 points after the break.

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With the postseason looming, it was an important win in another way as well.

The Utes jumped past Cal, who only has one regular-season game remaining, by a half-game in the Pac-12 standings and will have the head-to-head advantage when it comes to Pac-12 tournament seeding.

Utah also moved into a tie with UCLA for fifth in the conference standings after the Bruins lost at No. 19 Washington State on Saturday. By virtue of their 2-0 sweep of UCLA this season, Utah’s hold the head-to-head advantage on UCLA, too.

It sets the Utes up for the opportunity to improve their Pac-12 tournament seeding even further when they hit the road to play at Oregon State and Oregon this week to cap the regular season.

“With everything this team has to play for, if we can’t get together and take this on the road, then I think we don’t deserve it,” Madsen said. “Like I said, we’ve just got a lot to play for and we’ve got a veteran group and we know exactly what we need to do. I think it will show a lot in these next two games.”

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Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon

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Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon


A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.

He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.

MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche

In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.

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“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.

A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas


CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.

LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.

Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.

The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.

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MORE | Murder-Suicide

Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.

10:33 a.m. — Call 1

After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.

Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.

“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”

11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3

As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.

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“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”

11:26 a.m. — Call 4

Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.

“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”

She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.

Police indicated officers were on the way.

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2:26 p.m. — Call 5

Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.

Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.

“They found a note on the door.”

2:35 p.m. — Call 6

Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.

“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”

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A dispatcher responded:

“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”

2:36 p.m. — Call 7

Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:

“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”

2:39 p.m. — Call 8

Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.

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“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”

He repeats the details he knows for the second time.

3:13 p.m. — Call 9

Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.

“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”

Dispatch responded:

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“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”

4:05 p.m. — Call 10

More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.

“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”

The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.

Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.

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The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.

5:23 p.m. — Call 11

Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.

“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”

She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.

Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference

Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.

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The investigation remains ongoing.

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing


AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”

Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.

“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.

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Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.

“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.

2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:

  • Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
  • Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
  • Does it support a ban from classrooms?

Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.

“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.

MORE | Utah State Legislature:

Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.

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“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.

“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.

The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.

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