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History making win for Utah State

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History making win for Utah State


Shortly after the San Jose State basketball team arrived in Cache Valley in preparation for Wednesday night’s game at Utah State, the student-led group of Aggie spirited athletic fans known as The HURD attempted to make amends for a previously unfulfilled promise made to Spartans’ head coach Tim Miles.

Now in his fourth season at SJSU, Miles was gifted a half gallon of chocolate Aggie Ice Cream when he arrived at his hotel on Tuesday, and he took the time to thank The HURD and post a photo of himself on social media enjoying some of the frozen treat.

But by halftime of Wednesday’s game against the Aggies, the veteran coach was suffering from something far more painful than an ice-cream headache.

Utah State absolutely dominated San Jose State, 105-57, at the Spectrum to record the largest margin of victory in a conference win in school history, bettering a 45-point win against the Spartans on Dec. 21, 2020.

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“It was just a disappointing night for San Jose State,” Miles declared. “I thought that Utah State was clicking on all cylinders. They were great the way they shot the three. I think six different guys hit threes in the first half, and that really set the tone for the whole game.”

Led by graduate guard Ian Martinez’s game-high 22 points, the Aggies held a 47-24 advantage at halftime and led by as many as 51 points in the second half. All 12 USU players to see action scored at least two points, with guard Mason Falslev (13 points), guard Dexter Akanno (13 points), wing Tucker Anderson (11 points) and guard Deyton Albury (10 points) all scoring in double figures.

Utah State, which was coming off a tough, three-point loss at New Mexico on Sunday, shot 63.6% from the field in the second half, 51.5% for the game and knocked down 13-of-25 (52%) 3-point attempts.

“I thought our guys didn’t let one loss correlate to another,” USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “We’ve talked about mindset for the last 48 hours. Credit to the leaders of our team, Ian and Mason and Drake (Allen), some of those guys that have been around college basketball. They understand the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

“They had the attention to detail, the defense, the physicality, the rebounding in this game. I’m really proud of our guys.”

The lopsided victory helped the Utah State (23-4 overall, 13-3 in the Mountain West) hold onto second place in the conference standings. But the Aggies did pull within a game of first-place New Mexico (22-5, 14-2) thanks to the Lobos’ 86-78 loss at Boise State Wednesday night.

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Utah State has four regular-season games left, starting with Saturday’s home game against San Diego State. The Aztecs (18-6, 11-4) are currently tied for third place with Colorado State (17-9, 11-4).

San Jose State (12-16, 5-11), which hasn’t won in the Spectrum since 1982 and is 4-42 all-time in Logan, gave the Aggies a little scare in the first game of the season in San Jose before losing 85-78 on Jan. 7. But after taking a 4-2 at the start of the rematch, not much went right for Miles’ club as USU scored 10 of the game’s next 12 points.

Former Aggie Josh Uduje, who notched those first two field goals for the Spartans, missed his next 12 shots of the game and San Jose State’s leading scorer at 16.4 points per game ended up scoring just four points in 31 minutes. It was a disappointing return to the Spectrum for Uduje, who was named the co-Sixth Man of the Year last season in the Mountain West after playing a key role for the Aggies in their conference championship run under former head coach Danny Sprinkle.

Uduje initially announced he was staying at USU for another year after Calhoun was hired last April, but then he switched his commitment in May and ended up signing on with the Spartans. Uduje, who was still greeted warmly by the Spectrum crowd of 8,921 on Wednesday, played against the Aggies despite missing the SJSU’s two previous games with elbow and back injuries.

“I thought the crowd really treated Josh with the respect that he deserves; that team last year was pretty special,” Calhoun said. “… As long as I’m the coach at Utah State, which is hopefully a long time, he’s always welcome here. He’s a class act kid.

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“… But he’s been having some back issues and hasn’t played in a couple of weeks, but we knew he’d play in this game,” Calhoun added. “Josh is a big focal point of their team, and he gets 16 points a night. So, we wanted to crowd him and make life hard for him. And yeah, he struggled. Just 2 for 14. But credit our guys and our defense.”

Overall, San Jose State shot just 36.8% from the field, were 9 for 32 (28.1%) from 3-point range and committed 13 turnovers to just six for the Aggies.

The Spartans, whose second-leading scorer Will McClendon missed Wednesday’s game with a knee injury, got 15 points each from graduate guard Donovan Yap and junior forward Sadraque Nganga.

“One thing we’ve really talked about lately is defensive stamina, and there were times in the second half we gave up some easy points,” Anderson said. “But we know what we’re capable of, and we’re trying to focus on our strengths and coming out in the second half, not looking at the score and just playing as hard as we can for 20 minutes in the second half.

“We seem to have some really good first halves, but second half defense is where we’ve struggled sometimes. So, we’ve got to keep getting better at that.”

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Anderson, who went 3-for-6 from 3-point range against the Spartans, credited Allen for setting him up for an easy dunk in transition in the second half, as well as for a behind-the-back pass from the top of the key that Anderson turned into a 3-pointer on the following possession.

“I think Drake’s been almost like a big brother to me,” Anderson said of Allen, who also flew down the lane in the second half for the most spectacular dunk of the night. “He’s the guy that’s always talking to me and always tells me to keep shooting, and he gave me some good passes tonight.”



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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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Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state

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Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state


SALT LAKE CITY — A prediction market is suing Utah over plans to regulate proposition betting that it says would run afoul of federal regulations.

Kalshi is a New York-based prediction market that allows users to place “event contracts” on future outcomes and earn a payout if they are correct. Those transactions are regulated through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the company said Utah has plans to prevent the company from offering contracts in the state and asked the courts to block any enforcement that “interferes with the operation and function of plaintiffs’ futures market.”

“Plaintiff KalshiEX LLC believes the governor of Utah and the Attorney General’s Office of Utah will imminently bring an enforcement action against Kalshi with the intent to prevent Kalshi from offering event contracts for trading on its federally regulated exchange,” the complaint states. “Defendants have repeatedly represented that they believe Kalshi is operating unlawfully under Utah anti-gambling laws.”

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The lawsuit points to a couple of posts from Gov. Spencer Cox and an op-ed written by Attorney General Derek Brown in the Deseret News on Sunday. After Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig announced that his agency would “defend its exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets last week, Cox took to X calling the markets “gambling — pure and simple.”

“They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men,” he wrote. “They have no place in Utah. Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States to beat you in court.”

He followed that up last Thursday, saying Utah is “ready to defend our laws in court and protect Utahns from companies that drive addiction, isolation and serious financial harm.”

In his op-ed, Brown argued that prediction markets are “the newest iteration of gambling” and said he didn’t see a difference between betting and trading futures.

“Although traditional sports betting apps are illegal under Utah law, these platforms argue that they merely allow users to hedge their risk,” he wrote. “But what is the real risk to hedge when you are simply predicting whether LeBron James will score more or less than another player? It’s simply a bet, dressed up in different clothing.”

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The lawsuit also comes as the state Legislature is advancing a bill that would clarify that proposition betting — or betting placed on specific players or events during games — falls under the state’s definition of gambling, which is prohibited by the Utah Constitution. HB243 has passed the House and a Senate committee and is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.

But Kalshi says its contracts are lawful thanks to a carveout in Utah’s anti-gambling laws that allows for “lawful business.” Its lawsuit claims Kalshi’s attorneys made “multiple attempts” to contact Brown about potential action against the company but were “met with silence, even though the Utah AG had previously been willing to communicate with counsel.”

Asked about the lawsuit on Tuesday, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he is “standing with the governor on this one.”

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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