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Arizona State steps up the pressure, surges past No. 21 Washington State in Pac-12 play

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Arizona State steps up the pressure, surges past No. 21 Washington State in Pac-12 play



the Sun Devils turned in one of their best performances of The season, downing visiting Washington State 73-61 in Pac-12 play at Desert Financial Arena.

It was really anyone’s guess as to how the Arizona State Sun Devils were going to respond when they stepped on the court to face No. 21 Washington State on Saturday night. Coach Bobby Hurley saw both versions of his team in an overtime loss to Washington on Thursday and it had an embarrassing showing against rival Arizona a week ago.

But the Sun Devils turned in one of their best performances of the season, downing visiting Washington State 73-61 in Pac-12 play at Desert Financial Arena. The Sun Devils (14-14, 8-9) led for 35:44 minutes and came out with an intensity and sense of urgency that they didn’t seem to have 48 hours earlier.

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The performance was all the more impressive given the competition. Washington State surprisingly started the day atop the Pac-12. Coach Kyle Smith lost his top four scorers from last season and was picked 10th in the preseason coaches poll but boasts a national ranking for the first time since the 2007-08 season when it finished the season ranked 21st.

The Cougars (21-7, 12-5) were also coming off a dramatic 77-74 victory over Arizona, handing the Wildcats their first loss at McKalea Center this season.

“I thought possible the best defense we’ve played in terms of they’re a handful around the basket with (Isaac) Jones and they’ve got guys that can shoot, playmakers,” Hurley said. “So they have a really good team. Kyle Smith has done a phenomenal job there and it’s one of the great stories in college basketball, what they’ve been able to do so you could see why they’ve had the success they’ve had but our defense was up for the challenge tonight and we stepped up in that regard.”

The showing by ASU snapped the Cougars’ eight-game win streak, that team’s last loss coming on Jan. 20 against California in overtime.

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Let’s take a closer look at the contest:

What went right for ASU

Played a solid first half: Hurley admitted after the frustrating Washington loss that he didn’t know where his team’s psyche would be. It had that lopsided and embarrassing loss at Arizona, then played about as bad for the first 23 or so minutes on Thursday against Washington. But the Sun Devils played their best first half in awhile, shooting 53% (16-for-30) and showing a hustle and toughness that had been missing. At one point Adam Miller and Jose Perez both went two rows deep into the crowd for a loose ball.

Balanced scoring: The Sun Devils had four players in double figures and two players with nine points. Jose Perez had 16 points, followed by Frankie Collins with 14, Adam Miller 12 and Alonzo Gaffney 11. Jamiya Neal and Bryant Selebangue each chipped in with nine. For Gaffney is was more points than he registered in the last four games combined. It was Selebangue’s biggest point contribution since a Jan. 20 game against USC in which he also had nine.

“If we’re going to have success the rest of the season, it’s not going to be with one guy. The times we seem to win there are four or five guys in double figures. We need that type of production, and again, the box scores shows that tonight,” Hurley said. “When we have that many guys playing that well at that end of the floor it really gets everyone energized and we play better at both ends.”

Held their own on the boards: Rebounding is an area in which ASU has been deficient much of the season but they finished equal with the Cougars on the boards, each with 35 rebounds. Despite coming off the bench Selebangue had seven followed by Gaffney, Perez and Collins each with six rebounds. So it was a balanced effort there too. ASU came into the game 348th out of 351 teams in rebounding margin at minus 7 so to finish even was significant.

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Not reliant on the long ball: ASU went 6-for-14 from deep (44.8%) which was noteworthy since they came in shooting 30.7% for the season from there. It was the fewest 3-point attempts ASU has had in a game this year, the previous low being 15 attempts in the win over San Francisco on Dec. 3. They were 5-for-15 in that one.

Good shooting night: The Sun Devils came in shooting 41.9% on the season which ranks 307th overall and 11th in Pac-12 play. In this one they shot 49.2% (29-for-59) with Miller and Gaffney both going 5-for-8 and Selebangue going 4-for-5.

What went wrong for the Sun Devils

A stupid foul here of there: We’re being picky here because there was very little that didn’t go right for the Sun Devils. With the ASU up 53-46 with 10:05 left in the game, the Cougars had the ball late in the shot clock with ASU making a solid defensive stand. Kamari Lands fouled Isaac Jones who was getting off a desperation 3 at the buzzer. Jones made all three free throws to cut the deficit to 53-49.

They said it

“If we’re guarding with a purpose and energy and we’re in the right spots and we’re flying around and getting deflections then we can be pretty dynamic getting out in the open court and it leads to our offense and they had four points for a long time. I thought we started out strong and defended them well.” ASU Coach Bobby Hurley

“It was real focused. Coach told us we got to be the good eggs. You guys don’t know what that means but you put that out there I think the whole team, we were the good eggs tonight.” ASU’s Jose Perez

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“You can’t complain when you beat a ranked team. We knew what it was going to be coming into the game and we were prepared. We needed this one. Lost the last one so had to bounce back and get ready for Wednesday.” — ASU’s Bryant Selebangue

What to look for next

Can ASU build on the strong performance: Given the monumental task that lies in front of it in the form of their rival, the Sun Devils needed a confidence booster and what better way to get it than beat the team that beat your rival not once, but twice this season.

Up next

The Sun Devils have just one game next week and it will be the rematch against rival Arizona (21-6, 12-4) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Desert Financial Arena. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. ASU will be looking for a bit of redemption having lost to the Wildcats 105-60 at McKale Center a week ago in what was the mostly lopsided game in the series history.

Arizona defeated Washington 91-75 Saturday afternoon behind the 28 points of Caleb Love.



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Washington

Suspect arrested in deadly shooting of 15-year-old girl in Washington County

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Suspect arrested in deadly shooting of 15-year-old girl in Washington County


WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF) – A man is in custody, charged with Murder in the shooting death of a teenage girl.

Washington County Deputies responded to calls of a shooting at a home on Hagan Circle, Friday night just before 10 p.m.

Once there, deputies located 15-year-old LuVenya Knight lying unresponsive inside the home. Life-saving measures were attempted but unsuccessful. Knight was pronounced dead at the scene.

22-year-old Kermarion Markel Washington of Tennille has been arrested and charged in the case.

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Washington is charged with Felony Murder, Malice Murder, Child Molestation, Statutory Rape, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony.

Additional charges may be forthcoming.

Washington is currently being held at the Washington County Jail.



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IMPD adds third public safety camera along Washington St in three months

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IMPD adds third public safety camera along Washington St in three months


INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD has a new public safety camera downtown to help address crime or deter it altogether. 

The technology is up and running at the intersection of W Washington Street and N Illinois Street. It’s the third camera to be installed along Washington Street in the last three months. 

“We’ve had a lot of success with our cameras, using them with juvenile mitigation or violence crime reduction efforts to identify those people involved in crimes, and we’ve been able to make arrests because the cameras are there,” IMPD Downtown District Commander Shane Foley said. “If the cameras weren’t there, there’s certain situations we would not be able to make arrests.”

The other intersections that had cameras installed back in March previously had mobile surveillance units in place, but that wasn’t true for the Illinois Street location.

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“Washington and Illinois is one of the most travelled parts of downtown and it’s important to have this tool to monitor activity,” Foley said. “We didn’t have a camera at this location at all, so that really emphasizes the importance of this location being added.”

The streams from the cameras are monitored by IMPD’s real-time crime center, but also by officers on the streets. The video can alert officers to incidents before 911 is even called.

“We have five different camera angles, and as you can see here, this can be used for traffic investigations,” Foley said while showing the stream from inside of his car. “If there was a crash or a pedestrian struck, this might help identify a vehicle involved in that incident.”

The Conrad Hotel on the corner paid to put the camera in place, an investment General Manager Ryan Fitzgerald hopes helps officers better secure the area.

”All the men and women that are down here making the city safe, it’s really important to us and we just wanted an opportunity to support that,” Fitzgerald said. “They do all the hard work, so anything we can do to support that effort is in the interest of all of our residents, our team members and our guests.”

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Video from the cameras that don’t show criminal activity is thrown out after 30 days. IMPD is hopeful to further secure community partnerships to fund more cameras in the future.

“Ultimately, the goal of these cameras is to make downtown a safer place for people to work, live and visit,” Foley said.



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Washington Nationals vs. Tampa Bay Rays prediction, pick for Friday 6/19/26

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Washington Nationals vs. Tampa Bay Rays prediction, pick for Friday 6/19/26


Keagan Smith gives you a preview, prediction and pick for today’s game between the Washington Nationals and Tampa Bay Rays on Friday’s MLB slate.

Did anyone have the Tampa Bay Rays and Washington Nationals competing for the MLB Postseason on their bingo cards? It’s June 19 and both these teams have winning records, but the ways they’ve gotten there are completely different. On Friday evening, this pitching-reliant Rays group squares off against the Nats’ formidable offense, setting up a fun battle at the Trop.

As the new series begins tonight at 7:40 p.m. ET, here’s a betting prediction and pick for this Nationals vs. Rays matchup courtesy of MLB odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Nationals vs. Rays prediction, preview

Washington Nationals

The Nats are perhaps the most fun team in the entire MLB this season. With a group of talented young bats, they’ve cruised to a 39-36 record on the campaign with a +15 run differential, also going 6-4 over their last 10 games. The upside of this offense is immense, and if they can get the pitching figured out, we could be looking at a future power in the NL. Washington produces an MLB-best 5.43 runs per game with a .744 OPS that ranks fifth overall. The full slash line reads .247/.323/.421 with a .287 BABIP; tonight, the group faces a RHP with a split of .238/.311/.414 for a .725 OPS against similar handedness. It may be the lower of their splits, but the Nationals do have 73 of their 96 homers against righties. The club’s .174 ISO comes in at fourth in the sport, but a composite speed score of 6.0 also leads all other teams, too. Plus, a 21.0% K% and 8.9% BB% are solid-enough marks.

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RHP Cade Cavalli was scheduled to start for the Nats today but has now been scratched due to illness. A new starter is currently TBD, but this section will be updated when the announcement is made. The bullpen’s numbers aren’t great though, sitting 24th in ERA at 4.71 with a 1.42 WHIP and 7.5% K-BB%.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have dropped from the top spot in the AL East after a few rough weeks in June, now sitting 41-30 with a +5 run differential. However, momentum is not on their side after going 4-6 over their last 10 and dropping both of their last two series — one to the Angels and the other to the Dodgers. Their offense is good with 4.44 runs per game, but doesn’t quite have the elite upside of today’s opponent. Tampa Bay has a .713 OPS and a slash line of .255/.333/.379, and the club gets the better of its lefty/righty splits today at .259/.339/.393 for a .732 cumulative mark against right-handed pitching. That’s a positive, as is a BB/K ratio of 0.50 fueled by an MLB-best 19.1% K% and a 9.6% BB%. A .301 BABIP is nice to see, but a .124 ISO and 58 home runs this year leave much to be desired in terms of power. That’s the biggest weakness of this team by far, but they have hit 45 of those off a RHP.

RHP Griffin Jax gets the starting nod for Tampa Bay today. He’s 1-5 across 20 games and nine starts. His numbers include a 3.68 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP and 41 SO in 44.0 IP. He’s forced ground balls at an above-average rate and has seen positive results in terms of chase and whiff rate as well. The Rays’ bullpen has a 4.67 ERA that ranks 22nd with a 1.37 WHIP and 10.9% K-BB%.

Nationals vs. Rays pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Rays as -126 Moneyline favorites at home today. The Rays are underdogs at +104 odds to win outright with the run total set at eight.

Best Bet: WAS Nationals ML (+104)

A straight-up pick is the move tonight as we target the Nats for an outright win on the road. Here’s the logic. I like the Washington offense far more than Tampa Bay’s, especially as of late. The Nationals have an .840 OPS in the last two weeks with a .221 ISO, though that drops a smidge to .772 and .185 over the last seven days in particular. They’re just as productive as usual though, if not more so. On the opposite side, the Rays are dead last over the last week at a .609 OPS and an .088 ISO, and while their strikeout rate has remained the same as on the full year, the OBP has dropped and they’re hitting a paltry .216. Looking at the last two weeks, they’re still 25th in the league with a .676 OPS as well and below .100 in ISO once again at .097. Jax has been solid as per usual, but it hasn’t translated to wins yet this year and likely won’t against such a high-powered lineup.

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