




LOGAN — Having a couple more days to get acclimated to the elevation in the Beehive State clearly didn’t help Alcorn State. After losing at Utah by 41 points on Monday, the Braves were battered by Utah State Wednesday night at the Spectrum, 101-46.
The 55-point victory was the first at USU for new head coach Jerrod Calhoun, who was hired last spring after seven seasons at Youngstown State.
“I really wasn’t nervous,” Calhoun said of coaching his first official game on Stew Morrill Court. “I told the guys, ‘You’re nervous when you have bad players.’ And I’ve been nervous a lot of years. … But we had a great week of prep, and I really wanted to show our fans the kind of style we’re going to play.
“We’re going to try really, really hard to get stops. We’re going to let guys have freedom. We’re going to shoot 3s. We’re going to use our depth. And we’re going to wear teams down.”
The Aggies (1-0) definitely did all of those things in the first half. After trailing 10-8 in the first five minutes, the home team reeled off 34 straight points over the next 11:15 to the delight of the crowd of 8,131.
The 34-0 spurt was the longest by a USU team since putting together a 37-0 run over two halves at Idaho in 2006.
“I’ve been doing this for 13 years, and I worked for a Hall of Fame coach in Bob Huggins, who is maybe the best defensive coach of all time in college. And that was as good as I’ve ever seen,” Calhoun declared. “There was a 10-minute stretch there they couldn’t score. And I think that’s because the attention to detail from our team all week was really, really good.”
The standout athlete for Utah State was senior center Aubin Gateretse, who played his first 30 minutes as an Aggie without missing a shot. The transfer from Stetson finished 11 for 11 from the floor and 2 for 2 from the free-throw line on his way to scoring a team-high 24 points.
“He’s been a guy who kind of struggled in our two scrimmages,” Calhoun said of Gateretse. “So, he was a guy who had an attitude this week. He was very determined and did a lot of extra work with Coach (Mantoris) Robinson.”
Gateretse, who did most of his damage off of lobs from teammates and offensive putbacks, came one made field goal away from tying USU’s all-time shooting record for a game. Mike Santos went 12 for 12 against Idaho State on Jan. 12, 1978.
“It was just so fun,” Gateretse said. “I know that if I do my job of setting screens really hard that my teammates are going to make the right reads because we’ve been working so hard on it. We’re still a new team, but we’ve worked so hard together since the summer, and everyone is locked in and willing to share the ball.”





The Aggies racked up 28 assists on 37 field goals while committing just nine turnovers.
Calhoun played 13 different players, 11 of whom scored at least one basket. Sophomore forward Pavle Stosic was the only player on the roster not to see time, and Calhoun said he is planning to redshirt the transfer from Gonzaga this season.
Graduate guard Ian Martinez and sophomore wing Tucker Anderson each scored 12 points for Utah State, while junior center Isaac Johnson ended up with 11 points and seven rebounds. The Aggies shot 51.4% as a team, including a 12-for-31 performance from 3-point range.
“It was a great game, man,” Gateretse proclaimed. “The team came out ready, which really started with the last week of preparation. Everybody was locked in and bought into the coaching, so we just came out and tried to have fun and execute the game plan.”
Alcorn State (0-2), which trailed 50-31 at halftime against the Utes before falling 100-59, fared even worse at the Spectrum. The Braves connected on just 5 of 27 field-goal attempts (18.5%) in the first half and trailed 52-14 at intermission.
“We played against a really good basketball team tonight, and in a brutal environment,” ASU head coach Landon Bussie said. “It was a tough game. I think we started the game up 10-8, and the next thing you know the score was 50-12. I was just happy get out of Utah.”
Senior guard Keionte Cornelius (11 points) and sophomore guard Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt (10 points) were the only players to score in double figures for the Braves, who shot 29% for the game and committed 20 turnovers.
Calhoun pointed out that the game was already on USU’s schedule before he was hired to replace Danny Sprinkle, who left for Washington after one extremely successful season at the helm of the Aggies.
“I talked to their coach before the game, and he said one big reason they came to Logan and Utah is because they wanted to play in one of the best environments in college basketball to get his team ready for conference play.
“… So, the respect factor nationally for the Spectrum, and The HURD, and our season-ticket holders and the environment we create is second-to-none. And it’s why I value this job with such high regard. It really fits me and my family, and I just feel very, very humbled to be the coach here.”
The Aggies, who open the season with four straight home games, will host Charlotte Saturday afternoon.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — 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.
In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.
“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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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.
Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.
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…”
As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.
“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”
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.
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.”
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”
A dispatcher responded:
“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”
Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:
“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”
Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.
“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”
He repeats the details he knows for the second time.
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:
“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”
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.
The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.
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.
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.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — 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.
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:
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.
Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.
“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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