Nevada
Colorado State knocks No. 23 Nevada out of Mountain West Conference tournament
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jalen Lake scored 16 points, Isaiah Stevens added 15 and Colorado State beat No. 23 Nevada 85-78 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
The Rams (24-9), the No. 7 seed, never trailed after the 17:06 mark of the first half. Nique Clifford had 14 points and nine rebounds for Colorado State, and Joe Palmer added 12 points.
“I told the guys I’m not going to call any plays. We’re just going to go,” Colorado State coach Nico Medved said. “I told Isaiah to not even look at me, just go. I think our motion offense was good.”
Jared Lucas led the second-seeded Wolf Pack (26-7) with 18 points. Kenan Blackshear added 16 points for Nevada and Tylan Pope scored 10.
“We beat them twice this year,” said Lucas, who hit a half-court shot to beat the Rams 77-74 on Feb. 27. “We knew they would come out and give us their best shot.”
Colorado State maintained a mostly double-digit lead until Lucas made two free throws to cut the lead to 72-63 with 7:07 left. Nevada later trimmed it to 74-69 on a layup by K.J. Hymes with 5:15 left, but the Rams then pushed the lead back up to nine points about a minute later.
Nevada didn’t get closer than four points in the final four minutes.
“We just played our offense,” Clifford said. “Everybody was playing carefree and playing with confidence.”
The Rams held a 43-28 lead going into the final seconds of the first half. But Nevada’s Daniel Foster converted a second-chance layup with four seconds left. Then the Wolf Pack’s Tyler Roleson stole the ball around midcourt just before the buzzer and was fouled as he attempted to heave up a shot. Roleson converted three free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 43-33 at the half.
Colorado State shot 54% (14 of 26) from the field for the first half while Nevada made only 38% (8 of 21).
“It’s March, these are all one-game seasons,” Medved said. “It’s all we talk about now. There’s a desperation for every team right now.”
BIG PICTURE
COLORADO STATE: The Rams started the season winning 13 of their first 14 games, but down the stretch were 4-4 to finish tied for sixth in the conference. All five starters for the Rams are either graduate seniors (Scott, Josiah Strong, Stevens and Patrick Cartier) or seniors (Clifford).
NEVADA: The Wolf Pack entered the quarterfinal having won seven straight games and 10 out of 11. They also are a veteran team, with four starters either graduate seniors or seniors.
UP NEXT
Colorado State will play the winner of Thursday night’s final quarterfinal matchup between third-seeded Boise State and No. 6 seed New Mexico.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Nevada
Oregon lands commitment from Nevada punter
Oregon has found its next Australian punter.
Bailey Ettridge, who averaged 44.66 yards on 47 punts at Nevada this season, committed to transfer to the Ducks on Sunday. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
From Lara, Australia, Ettridge had 15 punts over 50 yards and 18 inside opponents’ 20-yard lines this season. He also had two carries for 26 yards, both of which converted fourth downs.
Ettridge replaces James Ferguson-Reynolds, who is averaging 41.64 yards on 33 punts for UO this season. Ferguson-Reynolds and Ross James are both out of eligibility after the season.
Ettridge is the first scholarship transfer to Oregon this offseason and his addition gives the Ducks 81 projected scholarship players in 2026. He is the lone punter presently on the roster.
No. 1 Indiana (14-0) vs. No. 5 Oregon (13-1)
- When: Friday, January 9
- Time: 4:30 p.m. PT
- Where: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta
- TV: ESPN and ABC
- Stream: You can watch this game on DIRECTV (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.
Nevada
‘Winnemucca Day’ helps fuel Backus, Wolf Pack to 58-40 win over Utah State
RENO, Nev. (Nevada Athletics) – Nevada Women’s Basketball returned to Lawlor for the first game of 2026, hosting Utah State.
The Pack picked up its first conference win of the season with the 58-40 victory over the Aggies.
Freshmen showed out for the Pack (5-9, 1-3 MW) with Skylar Durley nearly recording a double-double, dropping 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Britain Backus had five points to go along with two rebounds and a season high four steals.
Junior Izzy Sullivan also had an impactful game with 17 points, going 6-for-11 from the paint and grabbing five boards. She also knocked down Nevada’s only two makes from beyond the arc, putting her within one for 100 career threes.
The Pack opened up scoring the first four points, setting the tone for the game. It was a close battle through the first 10 as Utah State (6-7, 2-2 MW) closed the gap to one.
However, Nevada never let them in front for the entire 40 minutes.
Nevada turned up the pressure in the second quarter, holding Utah State to a shooting drought for over four minutes. Meanwhile, a 5-0 scoring run pushed the Pack to a 10-point lead.
For the entire first 20, Nevada held Utah State to just 26.7 percent from the floor and only nine percent from the arc, going only 1-for-11.
For the Pack offense, it shot 48 percent from the paint. Nevada fell into a slump coming out of the break, only scoring eight points.
It was the only quarter where the Pack was outscored.
The fourth quarter saw the Pack get back into rhythm with a 6-0 run and forcing the Aggies into another long scoring drought of just under four and a half minutes.
Durley had a layup and jumper to help with securing the win.
Nevada will remain at home to face Wyoming on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Copyright 2026 KOLO. All rights reserved.
Nevada
EDITORIAL: Nevada’s House Democrats oppose permitting reform
Politicians of both parties have promised to fix the nation’s broken permitting system. But those promises have not been kept, and the status quo prevails: longer timelines, higher costs and a regulatory maze that makes it nearly impossible to build major projects on schedule.
Last week, the House finally cut through the fog by passing the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act. As Jeff Luse reported for Reason, the legislation is the clearest chance in years to overhaul a system that has spun out of control.
Notably, virtually every House Democrat — including Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford from Nevada — opted for the current regulatory morass.
The proposal addressed problems with the National Environmental Policy Act, which passed in the 1970s to promote transparency, but has grown into an anchor that drags down public and private investment. Mr. Luse notes that even after Congress streamlined the act in 2021, the average environmental impact statement takes 2.4 years to complete. That number speaks for itself and does not reflect the many reviews that stretch far beyond that already unreasonable timeline.
The SPEED Act tackles these failures head on. It would codify recent Supreme Court guidance, expand the projects that do not require exhaustive review and set real expectations for federal agencies that too often slow-walk approvals. Most important, it puts long-overdue limits on litigation. Mr. Luse highlights the absurdity of the current six-year window for filing a lawsuit under the Environmental Policy Act. Between 2013 and 2022, these lawsuits delayed projects an average of 4.2 years.
While opponents insist the bill would silence communities, Mr. Luse notes that NEPA already includes multiple public hearings and comment periods. Also, the vast majority of lawsuits are not filed by members of the people who live near the projects. According to the Breakthrough Institute, 72 percent of NEPA lawsuits over the past decade came from national nonprofits. Only 16 percent were filed by local communities. The SPEED Act does not shut out the public. It reins in well-funded groups that can afford to stall projects indefinitely.
Some Democrats claim the bill panders to fossil fuel companies, while some Republicans fear it will accelerate renewable projects. As Mr. Luse explains, NEPA bottlenecks have held back wind, solar and transmission lines as often as they have slowed oil and gas. That is why the original SPEED Act won support from green energy groups and traditional energy producers.
Permitting reform is overdue, and lawmakers claim to understand that endless red tape hurts economic growth and environmental progress alike. The SPEED Act is the strongest permitting reform proposal in years. The Senate should approve it.
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