Colorado

Utah State upsets No. 13 Colorado State to move to 14-1 on the season

Published

2 years ago

January 7, 2024

Utah State upsets No. 13 Colorado State to move to 14-1 on the season

LOGAN — The number 13 was lucky for the Utah State Aggies and extremely unlucky for the Colorado State Rams Saturday night.

Utah State secured its 13th straight victory by knocking off 13th-ranked Colorado State 77-72 in front of a boisterous crowd at a sold-out Spectrum.

“I’m happy for the university and for the fans and all of the kids who came back early from Christmas break. They deserve it,” said USU head coach Danny Sprinkle, who had to change into a USU hoodie for the postgame press conference after finding himself in the middle of an enthusiastic court storming by Utah State students.

“Aggie Nation always shows up, and so they deserve things like this, so I’m happy that our players could do that for them.”

The victory over the Rams (13-2) was the first for the Aggies (14-1) over a nationally ranked team since Sam Merrill and company memorably upended No. 5 San Diego State in the championship game of the 2020 Mountain West tournament, and it was the first home victory over a ranked opponent since USU’s upset of No. 12 Nevada in March of 2019.

Utah State, which trailed for the majority of the first 30 minutes, started a 10-0 run with just over nine minutes left that took them from two points behind to a 65-57 advantage in a span of just over five minutes.

Although many Utah State students have yet to return to Cache Valley ahead of the start of the new semester on Monday, the Spectrum was still packed with 10,270 souls.

“Spectrum magic is real; it’s real,” USU guard Josh Uduje declared. “Great (Osobor) and I were told about it before we even played a game here, and tonight we really did see it. The crowd was amazing … and I think they really helped kickstart our run, honestly.”

Osobor led the way for the Aggies with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while freshman guard Mason Falslev finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

Uduje came off the bench to add nine points, and center Isaac Johnson contributed eight points (six of which came on two 3-pointers) and eight rebounds, with much of that production coming during USU’s game-altering run in the second half.

“Thank goodness he’s 6-11-and-a-half because he needed all of it to get over (the defender) on his second 3-pointer,” Sprinkle pointed out with a grin, “and I was even more proud of his rebounding. He had some big-boy rebounds down there in the second half.”

Utah State managed to take out the No. 13 team in the country despite shooting a mere 28.1% as a team in the first half. But thanks to the Aggies’ still being determined defensively, they managed to close a 10-point deficit down to just four points by halftime.

Senior point guard Isaiah Stevens closed out the first half with a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to make it 32-28, but the CSU star was relatively quiet offensively until the game’s final moments.

Still, the Mountain West preseason Player of the Year ended up with a team-high 21 points, including four 3-pointers, and eight assists.

Senior guard Nique Clifford and senior forward Patrick Cartier added 18 and 15 points, respectively, but CSU’s big trio also missed some key attempts during USU’s 10-0 stretch, and Clifford and Cartier both ended up fouling out.

“We had an opportunity to maybe have a bigger lead in the first half. We were guarding really, really well, and then in the second half it was just the opposite,” CSU head coach Niko Medved said.

“Our defense really kind of fell apart. Too many mistakes. We lost our discipline and we had some guys that, maybe because they were in foul trouble, were maybe playing a little bit tentative defensively, and you can’t do that because that was not good enough.”

Colorado State ended up shooting 44.4% for the game and went 8 of 24 from 3-point range, but the Rams were a dismal 4 of 11 from the free-throw line.

The Aggies, conversely, finished 20 of 23 from the charity stripe, with Osobor going a perfect 8 for 8.

“Obviously, we got outscored by 16 from the free-throw line,” Medved noted. “A lot of that is we have to make them and we have to play with more physicality, and that’s what happened.

“Disappointing because I thought we had an opportunity tonight. They executed better than we did down the stretch.”

The Aggies, who ended up shooting 63% in the second half, pulled away by as many as nine points with just under two minutes remaining.

The hosts then survived a frenetic comeback attempt by the Rams to stretch their winning streak to 13 games, the sixth-best run in school history.

Picked to finish ninth in the Mountain West preseason poll after turning over nearly the entire roster, the 2023-24 Aggies have tied the 2012-13 team for the third-best start in school history.

Only the 2008-09 team, which started 24-1, and the 2003-04 squad that opened the year 20-1, have gotten off to a better start than Sprinkle’s first team at Utah State.

When asked where Saturday’s victory ranks in his head coaching career, Sprinkle was quick to note that winning two Big Sky tournament titles while at Montana State are the “biggest.”

“But, you know, beating the No. 13 team in the country is pretty big,” added Sprinkle, who was able to do in front of both of his parents.

“That’s a heck of team that we just beat,” he added. “They’re No. 13 in the country for a reason and they gave us everything we could handle, so I’m just really proud of our guys and the effort that they gave.

“We talked a lot about Colorado State making runs — they’re too good of a team — but I thought we responded, and our guys were terrific.”

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‘It’s Not a Penalty’: Bednar Rips Officials For MacKinnon Ejection | Colorado Hockey Now

Published

41 minutes ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

‘It’s Not a Penalty’: Bednar Rips Officials For MacKinnon Ejection | Colorado Hockey Now

Head coach Jared Bednar is often calm and calculated during his postgame press conferences. But his frustrations were made loud and clear on Tuesday, following the Avalanche’s 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena in a game that saw superstar center Nathan MacKinnon get ejected late in the second period.

With the Avs on the power play trailing 2-1, MacKinnon entered the Oilers’ zone with speed and received an east-to-west pass from Martin Necas. MacKinnon’s shot went wide, but with little space to maneuver because Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse was cutting in on him, MacKinnon barreled into goalie Connor Ingram and was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

“[MacKinnon] makes the play on the puck, and I got his toes cutting up ice probably through the top of the paint, and Ingram’s on the goal line. There’s no chance that he hits the goalie if Nurse doesn’t run into him. He’s not hitting the goalie,” Bednar said, after watching his team fall to 43-11-9 on the season.

Ingram left the game with an injury and did not return.

“I don’t care if he’s injured, not injured, if it’s a severe crash, not a severe crash. It’s not a penalty,” Bednar said. “If you put guys in your own goalie, it’s not a penalty.”

The MacKinnon call prematurely ended the Avs’ second power play of the night. They successfully killed off the 4:05 remaining on the major and tied the game, but couldn’t secure a point.

Ross Colton, Necas, and Valeri Nichushkin had Colorado’s goals. Unfortunately for Colton, he left the game with an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return.

“He took a shot from a player during the game and he kind of tightened up so he’s got an upper-body injury. Hopefully he loosens up for tomorrow and can play in Seattle,” Bednar said.

Mackenzie Blackwood started for the Avs after getting pulled in Dallas two games ago. He let in three goals on his first 10 shots before locking in later in the game. Blackwood made several big stops during the lengthy PK before Nichushkin tied it up. But it still wasn’t enough. Blackwood finished with 20 saves.

The Oilers finished 2-for-4 on the power play, getting the game-winning goal from Connor McDavid on a spectacular give-and-go with Leon Draisaitl with 10:57 remaining in regulation. Both of them finished with two points, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals.

Colorado had a power play after that, but could not capitalize. Necas’ tally came on the PP earlier in the evening, and the Avs finished 1-for-3. Colton’s goal came just 24 seconds into the first period, which snapped his nine-game goalless drought.

All of the Avalanche’s best plays were in the first and third periods. The second was a different story.

“I’ll give you an example, three or four times at the start of the second period, we try to go in on a rush, and we lose it and change, and they get odd-man rushes and a scoring chance against,” Bednar said. “You can’t do that. You can’t do that against anybody, never mind the best offensive team in the league.”

Edmonton also played with a shortened bench. On top of losing Ingram to an injury, forward Colton Dach, and defenseman Ty Emberson also left with ailments and did not return. From the moment MacKinnon was ejected, the pace of the game changed. Frustrations were noticeable on both sides.

“It was a great game up until that,” Nazem Kadri said. “I think it was a good battle out there. Players were playing hard and, you know, it’s unfortunate that’s how it’s gotta end.”

Kadri was also vehemently against the MacKinnon call.

“I think Nate makes an effort. He’s diving across the top of the crease to try to get out of the way, like that’s a part of the rule for the player to at least make some sort of attempt. There was clear contact. I have no idea how that was a five-minute,” he said.

Good: Nichushkin Is Heating Up

When he’s been available to play, there haven’t been many bad stretches for Nichushkin. His on-ice production has been solid over the past three regular seasons. But this year, the 30-year-old veteran forward has had tough stretches. Entering the break, and coming out of it, Nichushkin wasn’t producing at the rate he usually does.

Over the past three games, he’s looked more like the power forward that we’ve grown accustomed to. And he’s gotten rewarded for it on the scoresheet.

Bad: The Penalty

I had a hard time deciphering if it was or wasn’t a penalty on MacKinnon when it first happened. I watched replays, I slowed them down, and I started to form an opinion.

But regardless of whether MacKinnon should’ve been called for anything, it shouldn’t have been a five. That part I can’t wrap my head around.

Bednar was frustrated and asked about it again. He added, “I really don’t give a crap if the goalies hurt. That’s on their D.”

Good:

Bad: Defensive Breakdowns

Each of the first three Edmonton goals were scored by guys that were open in front of the goal. On the first two,

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Colorado residents should prepare for Xcel power outages this week as fire danger surges, utility says

Published

13 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Colorado residents should prepare for Xcel power outages this week as fire danger surges, utility says

Xcel Energy is warning its customers along the Front Range to be prepared for possible power outages this week as the risk of wildfire surges due to hot and dry weather.

“Due to the elevated risk of wildfire, enhanced powerline safety settings are active across out Front Range service territory,” according to a social media post from the utility. The settings make the powerlines more sensitive and prompt a line to stop the flow of electricity if an object touches a line.

The highest risk for wildfire danger will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday, when strong gusty winds are forecasted, according to the National Weather Service.

Humidity could be as low as 10% and winds may top 25 mph, leading to critical and extremely critical fire weather between Thursday and Saturday, forecasters said.

Tens of thousands of customers have lost power in recent months from planned outages during fire danger and powerline damage from high winds.

In December, 86,040 Xcel customers lost power because of a mix of planned shutoffs and downed powerlines from high winds. The decision led some customers to criticize the utility, asking it to fine-tune its weather responses.

Some schools in northern Colorado schools preemptively canceled classes in January after Xcel announced a planned power shutoff for 9,000 customers in the area.

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An Evening Against Edmonton | Colorado Avalanche

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

An Evening Against Edmonton | Colorado Avalanche

Edmonton Oilers (31-25-8) @ Colorado Avalanche (43-10-9)

8 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: TNT, truTV, HBO Max | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)

After back-to-back shootout victories, the Avalanche concludes its two-game homestand on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers. This game is an Avalanche Cup Classic, presented by KeyBank, which will honor the 2022 Avs team that won the Stanley Cup and defeated the Oilers in the Western Conference Final. Tuesday’s game is the second of three regular-season meetings between the teams, as the Avalanche won 9-1 in Edmonton on November 8th, and they’ll play in Alberta on April 13th.

Sunday Success

The Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in a shootout on Sunday at Ball Arena. Nathan MacKinnon and Nicolas Roy both scored for Colorado while Nazem Kadri posted an assist in his second Avs debut. In net for Colorado, Scott Wedgewood stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced. MacKinnon opened the scoring at 12:19 of the second period with his 43rd goal of the season via a right-circle one-timer set up by Kadri, who began the play with an interception below the offensive-zone goal line. Kirill Kaprizov tied the game for Minnesota with a power-play goal at 4:17 of the third period when his pass from the right circle deflected into the net. The Wild took a 2-1 lead at 7:01 of the third period when Nico Sturm scored a shorthanded breakaway. Colorado tied the game at 12:39 of the third period when Nicolas Roy scored his first goal as an Av and sixth of the season via a net-front deflection on Brett Kulak’s slap shot. In the shootout, Valeri Nichushkin scored for Colorado in the first round, Matt Boldy scored for Minnesota in the second round and MacKinnon tallied the winner in the fourth round.

Leading the Way

Nate the Great

MacKinnon leads the NHL in goals (43) while ranking second in points (104) and third in assists (61).

All Hail Cale

Among NHL defensemen, Cale Makar is tied for second in points (66) while ranking fourth in goals (19) and assists (47).

Marty Party

Martin Necas is tied for seventh in the NHL in points (76).

Series History

In 135 regular-season games against the Oilers, the Avalanche has a record of 74-49-6-6. The teams have met three times in the playoffs, with the Avs winning the 1997 Western Conference Semifinals in five games and the 2022 Western Conference Final in four contests.

Sunday in Sin City

The Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday. In the second period, Trent Frederic opened the scoring for Edmonton at 3:21 before Vegas’ Noah Hanifin tied the game at 13:09. The Oilers took a 3-1 third-period lead after goals from Vasily Podkolzin at 2:34 and Leon Draisaitl at 11:53. Jack Eichel cut the Golden Knights’ deficit to one with a shorthanded goal at 16:43 of the third period. Edmonton took a 4-2 lead when Kasperi Kapanen scored an empty-net goal at 18:03 of the third period.