Arizona
A resurgent Donovan Dent is the star of UCLA’s victory over Arizona State
The crowd couldn’t believe what it had just witnessed.
Donovan Dent’s crossover move left a helpless defender watching from behind as he accelerated toward the basket, fans unleashing audible admiration even before the UCLA point guard completed the play with a driving layup.
Poor Noah Meeusen and everyone else who tried to stop Dent.
They were overmatched by the finishing ability and fearlessness of a player who had not shown much of either over the season’s first month, hardly resembling the star the Bruins thought they were getting.
On a revelation of a Wednesday night inside Pauley Pavilion, Dent finally looked like someone who could carry a team.
He did exactly that, the transfer from New Mexico helping the Bruins fend off Arizona State during a 90-77 victory that had his handprints all over it.
There were blow-by layups, floaters, a rare three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play on a jumper he threw up while getting fouled and falling down along the baseline. Dent unveiled a full array of moves on the way to scoring 20 points while making nine of 17 shots.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin said he sensed Dent might have a big game given the Sun Devils’ up-and-down style was one that played to his strengths. Dent said a confidence boost came from coaches and teammates reminding him of his abilities.
“They all just kind of told me, like, be yourself,” Dent said. “Like, we know who you are, you came here for a reason, like, just be you. And then, that’s all you want to hear from your teammates when you’re going through a slump, like, them just absolutely, absolutely being right there for you.”
Dent’s understudy also came up huge. After the Sun Devils made things uncomfortably close midway through the second half, pulling to within five points, UCLA reserve guard Trent Perry made sure they would get no closer.
Perry rose for a three-pointer that pushed the lead back to eight points. After teammate Brandon Williams made an energizing block at the rim, triggering a fast break, Perry found Skyy Clark for a three-pointer that extended the Bruins’ advantage to double digits.
Clark finished with 18 points on the strength of six three-pointers and Tyler Bilodeau added 18 points to help UCLA (8-3) bounce back from its loss to Gonzaga by holding off an old Pac-12 rival. Guard Anthony Johnson led Arizona State (9-3) with 20 points on a night the Sun Devils kept things close by making 25 of 26 free throws.
Clark is now making 51.9% of his three-pointers this season, not far behind Liberty’s Brett Decker Jr., who entered Wednesday as the national leader by making 55.3% of his shots from long range. Irritated by Clark giving up one early shot so that he could pass to Dent, Cronin asked everyone in the locker room at halftime if they wanted Clark to pass up open shots.
“They all screamed, ‘No!’ at him,” Cronin said. “You know, he’s a great kid, he’s unselfish, but we’ve got to continue to find a way to continue to make sure we get him shots.”
Another annoyance for Cronin was his team giving up 36 points in the paint along with all those free throws, a formula that might have spelled disaster had the Bruins not put up so many points themselves. Cronin said he might go with more three-guard lineups to optimize the team’s talent given what Perry and Jamar Brown (nine points) have added off the bench.
Dent’s final highlight came on a pass in transition to an open Clark, who rose for a three-pointer that gave UCLA a 12-point lead. In perhaps the only blemish on his night, Dent logged just four assists to go with his four turnovers.
It was an ensemble performance for the Bruins. Cronin inserted backup center Steven Jamerson II into his lineup to start the second half and Jamerson quickly rewarded him by chasing down an offensive rebound in the corner and adding two putback dunks before getting into foul trouble.
But the big story was one of redemption.
It picked up momentum late in the first half when Dent rose without hesitation for a three-pointer. It was only Dent’s second made three-pointer of the season and his first since the season opener after a string of 12 consecutive misses dropped his accuracy from beyond the arc to 7.7%.
That was a stunning dropoff for someone who had made 40.9% of his three-pointers last season at New Mexico. Dent finished the game making one of three shots from long range, his accuracy inching up to 12.5% on the season.
What was perhaps most pleasing about Dent’s performance was his heightened confidence level. He repeatedly beat his defender for driving layups, his aggressiveness an equal asset to his speed in rolling up 13 points on six-for-eight shooting by the game’s midpoint.
There was more to come for someone who said watching film of old highlights helped generate new ones.
“When you’re going through stuff like that,” Dent said of his struggles, “you kind of want to see what you could do, again, watching old highlights, old clips. They remind you what you can do and who you are.”
He’s Donovan Dent, and no one on Arizona State’s roster is likely to forget any time soon.
Arizona
2026 NFL draft: 3 potential trades back from No. 3 for Arizona Cardinals
Since the Arizona Cardinals want to trade back from the No. 3 picks, here are three deals that could work.
The Arizona Cardinals have the third pick in the 2026 NFL draft, which begins this week on Thursday. All the reports coming out are saying that they want to trade out of the pick to acquire more draft picks.
But what does a trade look like and who could be involved?
The Kansas City Chiefs are involved in talks at some level. ESPN’s Adam Schefter expects trade talks to heat up this week.
NFL teams use a variation of a trade value chart when it comes to draft picks. Now, what a team actually is willing to give up can be influenced by potential competition with other teams, but we can’t count on that.
Here is the general trade value chart teams use.
Here are some potential deals that could be done.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have two first-round picks, which would be appealing to the Cardinals, who reportedly want to make a move for quarterback Ty Simpson, and the 29th pick might be just the spot to get him.
The third overall pick is worth 514 points.
The Chiefs’ picks at No. 9 (387 points) and No. 29 (202 points) together are worth 589.
To make up the difference, the Cardinals could give up No. 65 (78 points) for a total of 592 points.
One deal could be:
- Cardinals receive get No. 9 and No. 29 (589 points)
- Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 65 (592 points)
Another could be:
- Cardinals receive No. 9, No. 29, No. 74 and 2027 third-round pick (653 points + value of future third-round pick, which is 36-78 points)
- Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 34 (689 points)
The Cardinals keep their third-round pick and the Chiefs essentially move back five spots from No. 29.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have the 12th and 20th picks but no pick in the second round.
Pick No. 12 is 347 points and No. 20 is 269 for a total of 616.
This deal is close:
- Cardinals receive No. 12, No. 20 (616 points)
- Cowboys receive No. 3, No. 65 (592 points)
New Orleans Saints
The Saints are perhaps a dark horse to move up, although they do not have two first-round picks. They have the No. 8 pick, worth 406 points. Their second-round pick, at No. 42, is worth 142 points.
This deal could work:
- Cardinals receive No. 8, No. 42 (548 points)
- Saints receive No. 3, No. 104 (547 points)
Then the Cardinals could use their two second-round picks to then move back into Round 1 to get Ty Simpson.
They could trade No. 34, No. 42 and No. 65 (395 points) for No. 28, No. 38 and No. 106 (398 total points).
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Arizona
Dust returns to Phoenix area after hazy weekend – KTAR.com
PHOENIX — Breezy winds kicked up a blanket of dust across the Valley on Sunday, and forecasters say more is on the way this week.
Visibility in Phoenix became so bad on Sunday that Sky Harbor airport stopped flights for over an hour
The wind and dust peaked Sunday afternoon and gradually improved into the evening, said Michael Graves, an air quality meteorologist with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
“You might’ve seen the mountains a bit obscured in the distance,” Graves told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday. “A lot of haze in the air.”
By Monday morning, skies had largely cleared and dust levels near the ground had dropped significantly.
Expect more gusty, dusty days this week
The relief may be short-lived.
ADEQ is watching for increased afternoon breezes Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, this time from the west and southwest. Though the winds are expected to be weaker than Sunday’s, Graves said forecasters cannot rule out dust.
“I wouldn’t say windstorm,” Graves said. “I would just say we’ve got some waves coming in. They’re going to increase our afternoon breeziness.”
It’s enough to kick up dry, exposed dirt, which could create pockets of dust. There is a slight chance of broader regional dust transport, Graves said.
It will impact people with asthma, COPD or respiratory conditions the most. Graves advised those with issues to monitor conditions and stay indoors during the dustiest hours.
“If you’re going to be outside, be outside during the times when it’s less dusty or hazy,” Graves said.
Graves noted that spring weather systems typically pass to the north of the Phoenix area, delivering wind and slight temperature drops but little to no rain, a pattern likely to continue.
KTAR News reporter Kellen Shover contributed to this report.
Arizona
Trying to beat the heat: Addressing rising temperatures in Southern Arizona
The University of Arizona and Tucson are known for yearlong warm weather, but when is it too much? With temperature reaching record highs in March, the city of Tucson has already reported increased temperatures for this year.
In the wake of the third annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit, integrating voices throughout the City of Tucson, community stakeholders and experts from UA gather to speak about possible solutions and policies to address rising temperatures and extreme heat.
The summit strives to ensure that the lived experiences of Southern Arizona residents are voiced. The first summit commenced in 2024, in response to the declaration of an extreme heat emergency in Arizona by Gov. Katie Hobbs, as part of a larger plan called Arizona’s Extreme Heat Response Plan.
With representation from organizations such as the American Red Cross, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, Arizona Jobs with Justice, Tucson Indian Center and many more, the summit emphasized the importance of the perspective and concerns of stakeholder groups throughout the community.
The summit included a variety of UA experts, including faculty representing the School of Geography, Development and Environment; the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy; the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.
One particular project, led by Ladd Keith at the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, is a part of the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory, which is funded by the United States’ Department of Energy to explore extreme heat throughout Arizona. SW-IFL works in collaboration with other national laboratories including those at ASU and NAU.
The team works to analyze extreme heat in the southwest and rural areas, and how communities deal with heat by conducting interviews. The team has also prescribed policy to Pima County and the City of Tucson regarding more effective strategies to combat rising temperatures, such as green stormwater infrastructure.
Anne-Lise Boyer, a post-doctoral researcher with the Climate Assessment for the Southwest, shared that the team particularly analyzed extreme heat in three parts: heat mitigation, heat management and heat governance.
Mitigation deals with prevention through strategies such as green infrastructure and planting trees, while management includes cooling sensors and heat warning systems. Governance allows these measures to be enacted through policy.
In Tucson, some of the most meaningful work the team has engaged in has been drafting the City of Tucson’s Heat Action Roadmap in 2024, which outlines goals to mitigate and mandate extreme heat and its impacts while prioritizing community voices.
The goals of the roadmap include informing and educating citizens of Tucson on the adverse effects of extreme heat and cooling people’s homes and neighborhoods by incorporating heat risk in regional planning. These steps are essential to practicing heat management, especially as the city of Tucson grows.
“I think the most interesting thing about being based in Tucson is that because the heat has been here for a long time, it’s like a laboratory in itself,” Boyer said. “We have all this research and all this collaboration happening with local actors because it’s a pressing issue in Arizona.”
As the annual heat summit recurs, new ideas and perspectives continue to be shared throughout the community. Boyer shared that this year, the Southern Arizona Heat Summit focused on the youth perspective, highlighting middle school and high school students and how heat impacts their everyday lives. Many students spoke about how heat shaped their lives at home, school and sports.
“That’s one of the goals, to have community members participate and give their input in how they wish the city will deal with the heat,” Boyer said.
Boyer and Kirsten Lake, a program coordinator for the SW-IFL team, also shared how the impacts of extreme heat impact some neighborhoods and communities in Tucson more than others, and that their research often evaluates these factors to determine where heat management efforts would make the greatest impact.
“Its important when you’re putting into effect some of these measures, that you make sure you put it where it’s going to make the biggest difference,” Lake said.
The work of the SW-IFL team is not just locally known. The Brookhaven National Lab based in New York deployed a specialized truck to Tucson to collect information on the atmosphere and rising temperatures. The SW-IFL team hosted the Brookhaven team.
Additionally, Keith’s work has led to a guidebook called “Planning for Urban Heat Resilience” which focuses on the adverse effects extreme heat poses to marginalized communities across the country.
“It is so different from place to place and neighborhood to neighborhood because you have to take the whole context into account,” Boyer said. “They recommend first to document the heat impacts in your communities.”
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