Arizona
Utah, Arizona State meet in matchup of skidding teams
It wouldn’t be surprising if Utah and Arizona State are entering Wednesday’s first-round matchup in the Pac-12 tournament thinking of what might have been.
Utah (18-13, 9-11 Pac-12) had to settle for the tourney’s sixth seed, and no chance at a first-round bye, after dropping consecutive games in the state of Oregon last week, including 66-65 to Oregon on Saturday in Eugene.
The Utes had plenty of opportunities to win that game, but they couldn’t overcome the Ducks, who survived despite leading only 66-60 with 4:06 to play and never scoring again.
Arizona State (14-17, 8-12) faces even more of an uphill battle. On top of stumbling to the 11th seed by losing five of their last six games, the Sun Devils are without their second-highest scorer.
Jose Perez, who averaged 13.5 points per game and shot 40.5 percent from 3-point range, left the team prior to its regular-season finale at UCLA to pursue a professional opportunity in the Dominican Republic. Perez scored 25 points, one off his season high, in Thursday’s 12-point loss at UCLA.
Despite the timing of Perez’s decision, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley expressed support for the senior, who played at Gardner-Webb, Marquette, Manhattan, and enrolled at West Virginia but never played there, all before arriving in Tempe.
“I don’t walk in his shoes, so I’m not going to be judgmental of his decision. I don’t bash my players. You gotta make choices in life, and you have to do what’s best for you,” Hurley said via USA Today.
Utah’s Branden Carlson is coming off three straight strong offensive performances. He had 30 points against Cal, lit up Oregon State for 40 and scored 19 at Oregon despite leaving three minutes into the second half with an arm injury.
The Utes can only hope their top scorer (17.5 ppg) and rebounder (6.9 rpg) is available. Coach Craig Smith said there’s a chance Carlson will not play, and it will be a game-time decision.
“We’re not counting on him playing. Obviously, we’re cautiously optimistic,” Smith told KTVX television. “He’s doing everything he possibly can.”
Without Carlson, Utah will look to their second- and third-highest scorers, Gabe Madsen (13.3 ppg) and Deivon Smith (12.6), to lead on offense.
Arizona State won both meetings with Utah in the regular season.
—Field Level Media
Arizona
Phoenix restaurant group to expand Slim Chickens locations, plans to hire 500 new workers in Arizona
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Barnett Management Co. said it plans to hire about 500 restaurant employees in Arizona over the next few months as the family-owned, Phoenix-based business ramps up to open three new Slim Chickens restaurants.
The first location will open about mid-June near 35th Avenue and Happy Valley Road in Glendale, followed by another Glendale restaurant opening during the summer near Loop 101 and Northern Avenue. A third restaurant will open later this year in Yuma at Fourth Avenue and 16th Street. Each location will feature about 4,200 square feet of restaurant space including patios, seating for about 90 customers, and will employ about 100 people.
Slim Chickens restaurants sell chicken tenders, wings and sandwiches.
Barnett already operates a Slim Chickens restaurant in Maricopa, with plans to have 32 locations open in the state in about a decade. The company is the exclusive Slim Chickens franchise operator in Arizona.
Barnett, founded in 1979, also operates roughly 55 Burger King franchises in Arizona.
Prospective applicants may visit AZSlims.com to learn more about the company and job opportunities. Open positions include shift leaders, assistant general managers and general managers.
Arkansas-based Slim Chickens has opened more than 265 restaurants since the company’s founding in 2003.
It’s complicated: Why doesn’t Phoenix area have any Michelin star restaurants?
Reach the writer at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.
Whether you are trying your hand at the slot machines or at a table, you need luck to hit the jackpot or win big. But, if you don’t feel particularly lucky, maybe being at the right casino can help out.
Casinos.com, a casino review site, ranked the most popular casinos in Arizona to find the “luckiest” place to spend a night out. This ranking is based on previous players’ ability to win big.
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The 5 luckiest casinos in Arizona
To rank these casinos on “luck,” Casinos.com analyzed Tripadvisor reviews and tracked keywords like “lucky,” “won,” “jackpot” and “success.” The site only looked at Arizona casinos with a minimum of 5,000 reviews as of April 30. Based on its analysis, here is its ranking of Arizona’s five luckiest casinos.
- Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino
- Talking Stick Resort Casino
- Casino Del Sol
- Cliff Castle Casino
- Havasu Landing Casino
Why Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino is the luckiest casino in Arizona
Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino, located in Maricopa, has a 4.5-star rating on Tripadvisor and more than 8,000 reviews. Casinos.com found frequent mentions of its keywords, “luck” and “winning.” According to the site, players also included “jackpot” in nearly a dozen reviews.
Talking Stick Resort Casino also ranked high on the website’s list. As the largest casino in the state, the casino near Scottsdale has a 3.5-star rating on Tripadvisor. Keywords like “bonus” and “winner” were commonly mentioned in its reviews.
Ownership of the NHL’s team in Utah has given fans 20 choices to vote on for the franchise’s new name, according to a survey sent out Wednesday by Smith Entertainment Group.
Owner Ryan Smith has told The Associated Press the team will have a name starting with Utah. The inaugural season will feature jerseys with the name of the state on them, with a name, logo and colors to debut for 2025-26 after work done by the branding company Doubleday & Cartwright.
“Utah’s NHL team is a community asset, and we want to make sure that the community has a say in what the name is,” said Smith, whose group also owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz. “Utah has shown up for this team from the moment the NHL awarded us the franchise less than three weeks ago, and it is only fitting that our fans get the rare opportunity to help name the team they’ll be cheering for.”
The options provided to choose from are:
– Frost
– Ice
– Powder
– Mountaineers
– Freeze
– Mammoth
– Black Diamonds-
– Blast
– Caribou
– Blizzard
– Swarm
– Hive
– Outlaws
– Yeti
– Squall
– Fury
– Glaciers
– Canyons
– Venom
– HC (Hockey Club)
SEG bought the Arizona Coyotes from former owner Alex Meruelo for $1.2 million and relocated the team to Salt Lake City. Utah will start play in the Jazz’s downtown arena, Delta Center, and has the sixth pick in the NHL draft after not moving up in the lottery won Tuesday night by San Jose.
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