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No. 18 Washington State goes into the final stretch with hopes for a rare Pac-12 title still alive

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No. 18 Washington State goes into the final stretch with hopes for a rare Pac-12 title still alive


The list of regular-season basketball champions in the Pac-12 record book has plenty of mentions of teams like UCLA and Arizona.

For 83 years, however, Washington State has been absent.

This year’s Cougars — ranked No. 18 in this week’s AP Top 25 — need some help, but they will go into Thursday night’s regular-season finale against Washington with a chance to end that long drought and claim the title in the final year of the Pac-12 with its current membership.

“To finish this thing with Washington on our home floor; there’s always something at stake,” Washington State coach Kyle Smith said. “It’s a rivalry but then, you know, we’re still in the hunt to win the league, which is just incredible.”

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There are plenty of storylines this week for the Cougars. It’s the last time they will face the Huskies in a regular-season game while both are members of the same conference. There’s also the broader NCAA Tournament implications, where one more win could help Washington State craft a resume that could help the Cougars land in nearby Spokane for the NCAAs.

Then there’s the Pac-12 title. The last time the Cougars won a conference regular-season title was 1941 — the year they reached the national championship game before losing to Wisconsin. They have finished second six times since 1941, the last coming in 2007.

The scenario for getting over the hump this year is straightforward. A win over Washington, plus one Arizona loss to either UCLA or Southern California, would hand the Cougars the long-elusive title. Washington State beat Arizona twice in the regular season, giving it the tiebreaker if the schools finish tied.

“It’ll be loud. It’ll be exciting. And I told our guys that I’ve been in coaching 31 years, not many, maybe a handful of times we’ve been in a game like this,” Smith said. “It’ll be exciting.”

Virtually every other long-time historical member of the West Coast’s top conference has been able to claim the regular-season title in men’s basketball during the Cougars’ drought.

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UCLA has done it, of course — 32 times to be exact. So have USC (seven), California (15), Stanford (11), Washington (12), Oregon State (12) and Oregon (eight). Arizona’s won 17 regular-season titles since joining the league in 1978.

Arizona State, which also joined in 1978, doesn’t have a regular-season title. Neither do Utah or Colorado, who both came on board when the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011.

But Washington State’s drought is unmatched. The Cougars’ two regular-season titles – in 1917 and 1941 — are the same as the number of championships won by Idaho when it was a member of the conference.

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Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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Andre Washington’s 20 points help Eastern Illinois take down Tennessee Tech 71-61

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Andre Washington’s 20 points help Eastern Illinois take down Tennessee Tech 71-61


CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) — Andre Washington had 20 points in Eastern Illinois’ 71-61 victory over Tennessee Tech on Thursday.

Washington shot 8 for 13, including 4 for 6 from beyond the arc for the Panthers (5-10, 2-3 Ohio Valley Conference). Meechie White added 13 points and four steals. Kooper Jacobi finished with 11 points and added seven rebounds.

The Golden Eagles (6-10, 1-4) were led in scoring by Jah’Kim Payne, who finished with 11 points. Tennessee Tech also got 10 points from Mekhi Turner.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



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Stars defeat Capitals to end losing streak at 6 | NHL.com

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Stars defeat Capitals to end losing streak at 6 | NHL.com


Hintz scored into an empty net at 19:41 for the 4-1 final.

“Everybody played hard, did the right things, got pucks in deep, especially in the third period when we’re trying to close out a lead,” DeSmith said. “So, I thought top to bottom, first, second and third, we were really good.”

NOTES: The Stars swept the two-game season series (including a 1-0 win Oct. 28 in Dallas) and are 8-1-0 in their past nine games against the Capitals. … Duchene had the secondary assist on Steel’s goal, giving him 900 points (374 goals, 526 assists) in 1,157 NHL games. … Hintz has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in an eight-game point streak against Washington. He had a game-high 12 shots on goal. … Thompson has lost six of his past seven starts (1-5-1).

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Bridge collapse on Washington Avenue leaves emergency crews racing to rescue victims

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Bridge collapse on Washington Avenue leaves emergency crews racing to rescue victims


Emergency crews are responding to a major incident at the Washington Avenue Bridge, which has collapsed into Wheeling Creek.

Multiple police and firefighter units are on the scene, working swiftly to rescue those injured in the collapse.

Three injured workers have been taken to the hospital. Officials say one is a serious injury and two are non-life threatening.

Access to the area has been closed to facilitate rescue operations.

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The bridge was closed in early December for a replacement that was expected to take nearly a year.

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