PROVO — BYU basketball’s first Big 12 loss of the year had a dramatic impact on its Associated Press poll ranking, and the same can be said of Utah State’s biggest home win of the season Saturday night.
The Cougars (12-2, 0-1 Big 12) dropped six spots to No. 18 in the latest AP Top 25 released Monday following Saturday’s 71-60 home loss to Cincinnati in both team’s Big 12 debut, two spots ahead of the Aggies after earning a 77-72 win over then-No. 13 Colorado State.
That’s the first ranking for Utah State (14-1, 2-0 Mountain West) since the 2019-20 team climbed as high as No. 15, and comes with a 13-game winning streak that matches the sixth-longest in program history and ties with Samford for the second-longest active winning streak in the nation.
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BYU’s loss to the Bearcats followed Trevin Knell’s career-high 27 points on nine 3-pointers, the second-most 3-pointers in a single game in program history. The redshirt junior from Woods Cross ranks seventh in the country in 3-point percentage at 46.5%, but the rest of the Cougars hit just four 3-pointers in the loss.
BYU 6-foot-11 center Aly Khalifa continues to lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 8.0:1, with 48 assists to just six turnovers on the year.
Utah State graduate senior Darius Brown II ranks fourth in the country in the same category with a 5.0 clip, and also fourth in assists per game at 7.3.
Utah State forward Great Osobor (1) dunks as Colorado State guard Nique Clifford (10) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, in Logan, Utah. (Photo: Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP)
Purdue sits atop the AP Top 25 for the third straight week ahead of Monday’s top-10 showdown with Big Ten rival Illinois, while Houston jumped Kansas to No. 2 as the last unbeaten squad in Division I men’s basketball.
The Houston Cougars (14-0) opened Big 12 play with a rout of West Virginia a year after Kelvin Sampson’s squad advanced to a third straight Sweet 16 (that also includes an Elite Eight and Final Four appearance in that time frame).
“I think our kids have always had a bit of a chip on their shoulders here,” Sampson said after Houston’s win, per the Associated Press. “We’ve had to get some of our own fans to understand that we’re pretty good. They were so bad for so long. Some of them still have not figured it out. Our kids have, and our coaches have, and we know who we are. And what we’re capable of doing.”
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The Big 12 continues to lead the country with six ranked teams, double any other conference. Utah State joins No. 17 Colorado State and No. 19 San Diego State for three from the Mountain West, tied for the second-most nationally with the Big Ten, Big East, ACC and SEC.
The 18th-ranked Cougars will travel to Waco, Texas, for their first Big 12 road game at Baylor before continuing the swing Saturday at UCF.
Utah State is home Tuesday to welcome Wyoming to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
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The idea for Rize Sweet Rollz dates back five years, when founder Casey Vanderhoef was serving time in prison.
Vanderhoef began developing the concept while incarcerated, using that time to think through both the product and the purpose. Since his release last July, Vanderhoef has turned that vision into a growing business.
His company now makes a point to hire people who were formerly incarcerated, offering what Vanderhoef calls a critical first step after release.
Read more: https://ksltv.com/?p=911964 —-
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Like many utilities in the Trump era, Rocky Mountain Power is pulling back on its renewable energy plans. But more than a dozen Utah communities are taking matters into their own hands.
About 300,000 homes and businesses will soon be part of a novel, bottom-up program to bring new clean power to the state’s fossil-fuel-heavy grid. The Utah Renewable Communities initiative allows city and county governments to offset their electricity use with 100 percent renewable power, backed by a $4 monthly bill surcharge.
“There’s no other program available to our residents that is this affordable or this impactful to Midvale’s environmental and economic future,” said Dustin Gettel, mayor of the Salt Lake City suburb of Midvale.
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Midvale is set to vote Tuesday on whether to join 15 other communities that have signed up ahead of an enrollment deadline next week. Three other eligible communities have opted out, although one may reconsider.
