Author: Jesse

Life is full of twists and turns, and the Dybantsas have twisted and turned as much as anyone. The surprises along the way for Ace and Chelsea have been frequent, but none bigger than making their home in Provo, Utah. In fact, 20 months ago, none of the Dybantsas, including their young BYU basketball star AJ, had ever heard of Provo.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” Ace told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “I’m in Utah of all places. A kid from Africa is in Utah. We love it here. People have been great to us. They have embraced our family and have definitely embraced AJ.”

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For Chelsea, who hails from Jamaica, her “Utah moment” came when the family attended their first basketball game at the Marriott Center last December following AJ’s announcement that the nation’s top recruit was coming to BYU.

“AJ went up into the stands. It was such a great feeling. I could see how it was going to be. The students embraced him and he was having a ball. I was picturing him on the court during that time,” Chelsea told the “Y’s Guys.” “What I love about Utah is the mountains. Coming out of the house and a mountain is right beside you — it’s a surreal experience coming from the East Coast.”

Benching Spiderman

Long before AJ wanted to be a basketball player, Anicet (his real name) longed to be an Avenger.

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“He was tall when he was born,” said Ace. “I knew at some point he would play basketball. He didn’t want to at first. He was into Spiderman.”

The Christmas morning when AJ found a Spiderman action figure under the tree in Brockton, Massachusetts, still ranks among his greatest days ever.

“He was in love with Spiderman,” Ace said. “Everything about him.”

“Everything,” laughed Chelsea. “I bought him sneakers, jackets, PJs — everything was Spiderman.”

It wasn’t until the eighth grade that AJ caught a glimpse of his potential on the court and sent Spiderman to the bench. Ace contends he remains a kid, even as he stands 6 feet, 9 inches tall and is still growing.

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Why BYU?

Ace and Chelsea visited BYU long before AJ did. They arrived on campus shortly after Kevin Young was hired on April 16, 2024. Young was still in Phoenix coaching the Suns in the NBA playoffs. He flew to Provo to meet them and make his pitch, which focused on his ability to prepare AJ for the league.

“I told him, ‘You don’t have to convince me. You have to convince my son, cuz I’m not the one who is going to play,’” Ace said. “He said, ‘Give me a chance and we’ll see what happens.’”

Ace was impressed by Young.

“I had been a cop for 19 years. I know BS when I see it,” Ace said. “He was sincere and everything he said — he delivered.”

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Following the visit, Ace encouraged AJ to visit BYU. The young prep phenom was hesitant.

“I’m like — trust me. I’m not saying you are going to go to BYU,” Ace said. “Just go visit.”

The decision

AJ visited campus twice and eventually narrowed his plethora of college suitors down to four — North Carolina, Kansas, Alabama and BYU. The plan was to announce his choice during Black History Month on Stephen A. Smith’s “First Take” program on ESPN.

“In mid-October, he came to my room and said, ‘Dad, if I decide to pick my school now, do we have to wait until February?’ I said, ‘No, just let me know. I’ll call Stephen A. and we’ll announce it,’” said Ace. “He said, ‘OK.’”

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AJ surprised him two weeks later.

“Dad, I’m going to BYU,” AJ said.

“You are going where?” asked Ace.

“BYU,” said AJ.

“Why? Tell me why,” said Ace.

“KY. He brought in a pro staff, a dietitian and strength and condition guy,” said AJ.

“OK,” answered Ace.

AJ then told his dad he had called Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul to get “their take” on Young.

“You called those guys?” asked a surprise Ace.

“Yeah,” said AJ.

“OK, BYU it is!” said Ace.

Garden party

Ace has lived in the Boston area most of his life and had visited New York City many times, but it wasn’t until Dec. 9 that he first stepped into Madison Square Garden, where AJ and the Cougars were playing Clemson.

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Prior to the game, the parents caught a glimpse of AJ’s king-sized billboard on display in Manhattan.

“What shocked me was to see the billboard,” Ace said. “They took my wife and I to check it out. We almost cried. My wife said, ‘Oh, my baby!’ I said, ‘That’s a big baby!’”

During the game, BYU fell behind by as many as 22 points before charging back. AJ outscored Clemson by himself, 22-21, in the second half, and Rob Wright’s 3-pointer at the buzzer won the game 67-64. In the world’s most famous arena, AJ stole the show with 28 points.

“It does not bother him. It’s 94 feet. It doesn’t matter where he plays,” said Ace. “I asked him a couple of years ago, ‘AJ, don’t you feel pressure?’ He said, ‘Dad, what pressure? It’s just basketball.’”

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Young’s tutelage

From his first visit with Young 20 months ago to what he sees today, Ace remains impressed with his style. He likes that Young “doesn’t have to yell to get his point across.” He also sees a developing trait in his son that will help him long after he’s done at BYU.

“Leadership. You can tell he galvanized everybody,” Ace said of AJ’s team-first persona. “You saw what he can do on the court in Boston and New York — just being himself, but still unselfish.”

Ten games into the season, BYU is 10-1 and ranked No. 10. The Cougars disposed of Pacific on Tuesday and Abilene Christian on Friday. BYU wraps up nonconference play on Monday against Eastern Washington (7 p.m., ESPN+).

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AJ has all the tools to leave his mark on BYU, and even if his time on the court only lasts one season, he will be back so BYU can leave its mark on him.

“Education means a lot to me,” said Chelsea. “I always say to my kids, that’s one thing someone can’t take away from you, so make sure to get your degree. AJ promised me that he will.”

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.

LOGAN — A 10-day break between games with Christmas smack dab in the middle sounds like the perfect schedule for a college basketball team during the holiday season.

But after Utah State’s dominant performance against Mountain West Conference rival Colorado State Saturday afternoon at the Spectrum, USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun was understandably feeling a little Scrooge-like.

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“I wish we could play again tomorrow,” Calhoun said after the Aggies’ 100-58 dismantling of the Rams on Stew Morrill Court.

Winners of five straight games and one of the top offensive teams in the nation coming into the conference opener for both teams, Colorado State (9-3 overall, 0-1 in the Mountain West) shot just 26.1% in the first half and 36.7% for the game while being crushed on the boards by a 40-20 margin.

Meanwhile, the Aggies (10-1, 1-0) opened the contest with a 12-0 burst and never really slowed down. The home team held advantages of 27-5 and 37-11 in the first half, and took a 45-24 lead into halftime.

After shooting 60.7% in the first half, Utah State shot 66.7% in the second half while pulling away by as many as 45 points late in the game.

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The final 42-point margin of victory was the largest ever by the Aggies in the 110-game, all-time series with Colorado State.

“We were up big on them last year, too,” Calhoun said, referencing the Aggies’ 22-point second half lead against the Rams at the Spectrum getting cut down to as few as seven points, “so we had five returning guys in the locker room who were very vocal about that…and when your blow teams out, your numbers look great.

“So we need to beat everybody we can, and if we have a lead, we can’t call anything off with the way the analytics world works. I mean, we jumped 11 spots (in the KenPom rankings) after just one game.”

Mason Falslev led the offensive onslaught for the Aggies with 18 points, despite being pulled with nine minutes left in the game. The junior guard went 7 for 9 from the floor and 2 for 3 from 3-point range and was the major catalyst behind USU’s game-opening tear, scoring 10 of the hosts’ first 12 points in just over four minutes of game time.

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“It felt good,” Falslev said. “I don’t think we’ve had a great start in any of our games, so it felt really good, and hopefully we can continue it.”

Falslev’s fourth basket of Utah State’s early run fired up the sellout crowd of 10,270 and resulted in a timeout by CSU coach Ali Farokhmanesh with 15:41 left in the first half.

Unfortunately for the first-year head coach, while Falslev was driving to the basket at one end of the floor, his leading scorer, Kyle Jorgensen, was crumpled on the opposite baseline holding his left knee.

The sophomore forward, who was averaging 15.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game entering Saturday, had to be helped up the tunnel by some teammates.

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Jorgensen returned later in the half on crutches, and he spent the rest of the game on the CSU bench with ice on his knee.

“Hopefully their big fella, Jorgensen, is OK. In my opinion, he’s one of the most improved guys in the country,” Calhoun said. “So things changed drastically when he was out, but I felt really good going into the game. I thought we had a great week of prep, and our kids played lights out.”

After Falslev came out in the first half, teammate MJ Collins Jr. took over the scoring load, putting up 11 straight points, including three consecutive 3-point attempts.

Though Collins picked up his second foul soon afterwards, keeping him on the bench for much of the half, the senior guard still finished with 15 points in just 22 minutes.

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Freshman forward Adlan Elamin also scored a career-high 15 point for the Aggies, going 6 for 9 from the floor, while pulling down nine rebounds.

He also delighted the crowd and his coach with a block and some spectacular dunks.

“You know, he’s got those ‘Go Go Gadget’ arms,” Calhoun said, referencing the animated series “Inspector Gadget.”

“… He makes some unbelievable plays in practice that you just kind of shake your head at, and he’s only going to get better.”

Calhoun was also pleased with the performance of graduate point guard Drake Allen, who racked up 12 points (three 3-pointers) and six assists.

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Junior forward Karson Templin (10 points, two 3-pointers) and senior guard Kolby King (10 points) also scored in double figures for the Aggies, with King also securing a team-high nine rebounds.

“It felt like last year all over again to start the game,” said Farokhmanesh, who was an assistant at Colorado State for seven seasons before being promoted to head coach following the departure of Nike Medved for Minnesota.

“I mean, that’s what we talked about, not letting that happen, but a ton of credit to them, they played well. I mean, the guys that haven’t made shots all year made shots for them, too. … They not only played really well, but I thought that they controlled the game in terms of 50/50 balls and offensive rebounds. I don’t know if there was a stat today that we didn’t get dominated in.”

Coming into the game, Colorado State led the Mountain West in field goal percentage (54.3%) and 3-point percentage (44.7%) and was second in the conference in scoring (85.7 ppg).

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But the Rams, whose two losses to Denver and Virginia Tech came by a total of four points, struggled with the Aggies’ full-court defense early on, and other than an 8-0 spurt late in the first half, could simply never get anything together.

Forward Carey Booth led CSU with 14 points, while Brandon Rechsteiner totaled 11 points and a team-best three 3-pointers.

Overall, the Rams shot 7 for 23 (30.4%) from beyond the arc.

“We knew that they’re a good 3-point shooting team, and that was our goal was not to let them back into the game by shooting 3s,” Falslev said.

Calhoun said the Aggies, who are 10-1 for the fourth straight season, will be off for Christmas until Dec. 26. They’ll then reconvene in Logan to prepare for their next game at Fresno State on Dec. 30.

Brighton was among the first resorts in Utah to allow snowboarding back in the late 1980s.

This year, USA Today named the Big Cottonwood Canyon resort as the best spot for snowboarding in 2025.

Here’s what the publication had to say:

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“The top of Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains is home to Brighton, a ski resort with a 500-inch annual average of light, fluffy and dry snowfall. Snowboarders can explore groomed trails geared toward beginners and experts alike, venture into ungroomed areas with natural terrain, or enjoy the human-made jumps and other features in the resort’s terrain parks.”

Brighton topped the USA Today list of the 10 best places for snowboarding in the U.S., which were picked by a panel of experts and USA Today editors and voted on by readers.

Brighton calls it a “huge honor” on its website, adding “but the stoke really comes from knowing our riders have believed this all along. Brighton’s spirit has always lived in its people and its powder, the award just makes it official. Now it’s your turn to experience what makes this place number one.”

A history of Brighton on the Ski Utah website says management at first wasn’t sure what this new “snowboarding craze” was all about. Snowboarders were allowed to ride at Brighton after concerns surfaced around the dangers of boarders hiking in the backcountry in avalanche terrain.

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The resort has since become a mecca for snowboarders.

“The topography here is crazy … Brighton has the highest concentration of jumps and cliffs and pillows,” said pro snowboarder JP Walker, per the Ski Utah article.

Best of the rest

Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon ranked eighth on the USA Today list.

Here’s what it says about Snowbird:

“With over 500 inches of annual snowfall, plus 3,000 vertical feet and 2,500 acres of snowboarding terrain, Utah’s Snowbird Resort is a top choice for your winter trips. There are 140 runs here, and more than 70% of the terrain is for intermediate and expert snowboarders. Additionally, you can even do guided snowboarding in the Wasatch backcountry, as well as take advantage of the Snowbird Mountain School’s snowboard lessons and camps for riders of every level and age.”

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Following Brighton on the USA Today list are:

1. Big Bear Mountain Resort, California

2. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming

3. Mammoth Mountain, California

4. Arapaho Basin Ski Area, Colorado

5. Palisades Tahoe, California

6. Copper Mountain, Colorado

7. Snowbird Resort, Utah

8. Bald Mountain Ski Area, Idaho

9. Winter Park Resort, Colorado

Brighton isn’t the only Utah ski and snowboard area to rank No. 1 on a USA Today reader’s choice list.

Snowbasin Resort in northern Utah scored the top spot in USA Today’s 10 Best Ski Resorts in the U.S. and Canada for the second year in a row. The ranking is based on snowfall, varied terrain, lift access and other factors.

Site of 2002 Olympic downhill skiing, the resort will be an Olympic venue again when Utah hosts the 2034 Winter Games.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) –  Coming off a solid road trip, winning two of three, the Utah Mammoth came home and could not produce enough offense.

Daniil But scored his first NHL goal for Utah, while Karel Vejmelka made 20 saves, but the Mammoth fell to New Jersey Friday night at the Delta Center, 2-1.

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Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves, while Stefan Noesen broke a tie early in the third period on the power play for the Devils. Connor Brown also scored, and Nico Hischier had two assists for the Devils (20-14-1), who have won four of their past six games (4-2-0).

“This one’s on him tonight,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said of Markstrom. “We don’t get the opportunity to hang around in the game and have big moments like we did in the third period with penalty kill and power play, if not for Markstrom and how he held us in.”

Mammoth end road trip with 4-1 win over Detroit

“We did a lot of good stuff, obviously, dominated scoring chances, shots, stuff like that,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think we had a portion to put the game away when we had the lead, and we could not score the big goal, take advantage of our opportunity, and in the third they did a good job. Give them credit, but at the same time, we need to find a way to put pucks in the net, to find seams, and to create more chaos.”

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Alex Kerfoot made his season debut after missing the first 36 games with a lower-body injury.

“I’ve never gone through an injury like this,” Kerfoot said. “This season, I feel like more than ever, because the schedule is so condensed, we haven’t had practice time really at all. I haven’t gotten into a practice. So, my first couple shifts, it was just feeling, trying to keep it short. But overall, the game felt fast, but I felt good and felt like my touches were good when I was out there and just got to keep building.”

But gave Utah a 1-0 lead on the power play at 9:35 of the first period, firing a backhanded shot past Markstrom. The 20-year-old forward was a first-round pick (No. 12) by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2023 NHL Draft.

“I’m not going to lie, it felt good when I scored,” But said. “But the most important thing is winning, and we lost today.”

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Brown tied it 1-1 at 11:21 of the second period, beating Vejmelka on the blocker side.

Noesen’s power-play goal put the Devils ahead 2-1 at 4:20 of the third period, tapping in a rebound of Hischier’s point shot.

The Devils were 0-for-7 with the man-advantage over their previous three games entering Friday, and started the game 0-for-4 before Noesen’s go-ahead goal.

Bruins shut down Mammoth, 4-1

“I think we needed that one, for sure, especially in that game too,” Hischier said. “[We had a] 5-on-3 early again and couldn’t score. So, definitely good that we came up big at the end.”

New Jersey killed a 6-on-4 power play over the final 1:21 with Vejmelka pulled for the extra skater after Dawson Mercer’s tripping penalty against Barrett Hayton at 18:39.

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The Mammoth next host Winnipeg on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

After Utah’s latest win, a tight 4-1 win over a surging Detroit Red Wings team, it was hard not to marvel at the performance starting goalie Karel Vejmelka had.

Albeit the one goal he allowed, he was nearly perfect with his 27 saves. Even the goal he couldn’t stop came on a Red Wings power play, and Detroit never got the better of him when Utah was down a man.

The 4-1 score may look like Utah won the game easily, but it was deceptively a much closer contest in the third period, with the score at 2-1. Every save Vejmelka made was important, but he truly elevated his performance at the right moment, when the Red Wings were aggressively trying to tie the game.

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But no matter what Detroit did, Vejmelka was ready. He anchored the defense, and when the time came for Utah to strike offensively, Dylan Guenther was there to score his team-high 16th goal and officially end Detroit’s momentum.

The game against Detroit certainly highlighted all the reasons why the Mammoth love having him as its starting goalie and why general manager Bill Armstrong gave him a contract extension at the end of last season.

But while his 27 starts — the second-highest mark in the league — are a testament to how much Utah trusts and relies on him, it also highlights a different problem: Utah has hardly won without him.

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Vejmelka’s 15 wins are currently tied for most wins in the league with Jake Oettinger, which is an impressive mark. But when looking at the Mammoth’s backup, Vitek Vanecek, the reason for Vejmelka’s importance becomes even clearer.

Vanecek has only recorded two wins for the Mammoth this season, going 2-7-1 in his eight starts. Compared to Vejmelka, who is 15-9-2 on the season, the mark looks even worse.

Though nobody was expecting Vanecek to outperform Vejmelka, Utah does have to be a bit concerned that the team never seems to win with him on the ice.

Of course, there have been times where Utah’s defense could also have played better and helped Vanecek. The difference between him and Vejmelka’s play is apparent on the ice.

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Ever since Vejmelka was benched in Utah’s 6-3 loss to San Jose on Dec. 1, Vejmelka has elevated his play, boasting the second-best save percentage at .921 with a 5-2 record.

While it’s certainly unfair to compare Vanecek — who has only played three games in December, one of which was in relief of Vejmelka — he still has yet to win a start since Utah’s 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets back on Oct. 26. That’s a long time to go without a win in the NHL.

There’s time for Vanecek to improve, and starting only 10 games for his new team is still a small sample size. But Utah needs Vanecek to elevate his game just as Vejmelka has.

The Mammoth don’t even need him to start more frequently. This team clearly is comfortable playing Vejmelka as much as possible. However, Vanecek not only needs to get a win soon, but a convincing performance to prove that he can be a reliable backup for this team.

Everyone loves a good comeback story — and former Utah goaltender Connor Ingram is doing his best to write one.

Ingram, the first goalie to ever play for Utah’s NHL franchise, had a hard season last year — both on and off the ice. He took a break from hockey when the health of his mother, Joni, declined. He returned some time after her passing, but his game wasn’t the same.

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Later in the season, he stepped away from hockey to participate in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, which helps players with challenges, including mental health and addiction. It was his second time in the program, as he’d previously used it to get help for clinical OCD.

While everyone was glad he was getting the help he needed, he and the Mammoth agreed that it was time for them to part ways in the offseason, despite the year he had remaining on his contract. He passed through waivers in September, and shortly thereafter was traded to the Edmonton Oilers.

Edmonton has the potential to be a good spot for him.

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It’s geographically the closest NHL team to his home town of Imperial, Saskatchewan. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is the only other NHLer from Imperial, and although a generation gap prevented Knoblauch and Ingram from ever living there at the same time, their parents were good friends.

The Oilers, who have lost in the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row, have lacked the goaltending needed to get the job done. They attempted to solve that problem by trading for Tristan Jarry on Dec. 12, but he suffered an injury in Thursday’s game.

They gave up their former starting goalie, Stuart Skinner, in the trade, so they called Ingram up from the minors on Friday to fill in.

Ingram could consider this a tryout for a full-time gig with the big squad. Calvin Pickard, the backup goalie, has some of the worst numbers in the league. If Ingram can prove that he’s still an NHL-caliber goalie, he might have the chance to stay there.

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That being said, Ingram’s numbers haven’t been great, either. In fact, both his save percentage and his goals-against average are the worst in the AHL at the time of writing.

Of course, there have been many instances of goalies going on hot streaks and proving themselves — that’s exactly what Ingram did when he broke into the NHL with the Nashville Predators.

“I’ve been doing this for long enough that I have faith in it,” Ingram told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector in an early-November interview. “I don’t feel like I have to make major changes anymore. I’ve got such a big gap in my resume, once you lay a base down, then you can lean on it and go back to it. At the end of the day, it’s just hockey.”

But that doesn’t mean he expects it to be easy.

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“You don’t get many more chances at this,” he said. “This isn’t something that you come back from very often. So I kind of accepted that that could be the end, hoping it’s not. When I took a chance to take care of myself, that was the part of it you had to accept.”

Former Utah HC Kyle Wittingham drops ‘transfer portal’ take on next coaching step appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

For the first time since 2004, Kyle Whittingham does not know what his next step will be. Many assumed the 66-year-old would be retiring after stepping down as head coach at Utah, but he instead views himself as a “free agent” in the college football transfer portal.

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Whittingham, who has been coaching since 1985, does not know what will come next in his life. The two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year certainly has enough money to retire, but he acknowledged that coaching is still “in his blood.”

“I don’t know if it’s ever out of your system,” Whittingham said, via Dana Greene of ABC4 Utah. “That being said, I don’t know what I’m going to do. But when you’ve got coaching in your blood, it just doesn’t go away… We’ll see. I’ve got to stepping down and step away, and reevaluate things and see where we’re at. I’m a free agent; I’m in the transfer portal.

“Like I said, I’m at peace. I did not want to be that guy that overstayed his welcome and people just say, ‘Hey, when’s this guy gonna leave?’ That was not my intention, ever. I hope I didn’t do that. I’m sure with some people I did do that, but to me, the timing is right.”

Whittingham has been with Utah since 1994, when he joined the Utes as a defensive line coach under Ron McBride. McBride promoted him to defensive coordinator the following year, a role he would occupy until agreeing to become the program’s next head coach in 2005. He was retained on staff when Urban Meyer took over in 2003.

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Before joining Utah, Whittingham was an assistant at Idaho State, Eastern Utah and his alma mater, BYU. He did not stay with any program other than the Utes for longer than six seasons.

Whittingham entered 2025 as the second-longest tenured head coach in college football with Utah, trailing only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz. His semi-retirement now makes Air Force’s Troy Calhoun No. 2 on the list behind Ferentz.

Related: Kyle Whittingham not ruling out coaching in future after stepping away from Utah

Related: Vanderbilt football’s Clark Lea reacts to Diego Pavia’s controversial Heisman Trophy reaction

For the second time in two years, the Utah State Aggies are headed to the Idaho Potato Bowl to take on Washington State. This is the 6th time that Utah State has gone to this particular bowl game, and the Aggies have a record of 1-4 in the Idaho Potato Bowl (20%). Utah State leads all other teams in appearances, with the next closest team, Boise State, having four appearances. This is Washington State’s first time playing in the Idaho Potato Bowl and this will also be Washington State’s second time on the blue in two years.

The last time Utah State won a bowl game was in 2021, when the Aggies beat Oregon State in the now-cancelled LA Bowl. Utah State missed a bowl opportunity during the 2024 season, so Bronco Mendenhall is helping this team head in he right direction.

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Bryson Barnes finishes the regular season with 2,687 passing yards and throwing for 18 touchdowns and four interceptions. Barnes completed 202 of his 335 passes (60%) and also led the Aggies in rushing yards with 176 carries for 733 yards and nine touchdowns. Braden Pegan, who has now entered the transfer portal, will not play in the Idaho Potato Bowl, but Pegan led the team in receiving yards with 926 yards on 60 receptions, and he also scored five touchdowns. Linebacker John Miller led the team in sacks with 7.5 and also led the team in tackles with 109 total tackles.

For Washington State, Zevi Eckhaus led the Cougars in passing with 1,760 passing yards and 12 touchdowns to nine interceptions. Running back Kirby Vorhees led the Cougars in rushing yards with 576 yards on 138 carries and five touchdowns. Receiver Joshua Meredith led Washington State in receiving yards with 639 yards on 49 receptions and three touchdowns. Defensive end Isaac Terrell led the Cougars in sacks with 7 on the season, and linebacker Parker McKenna led the team in tackles with 83.

Utah State and Washington State last played in 2024 in Pullman, and Washington State won that game against the Aggies, 49-28.

Utah State and Washington State will play on December 22nd at 12:00 PM EST, and the game will be televised on ESPN.

The Utah Jazz fall to Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers with the final score being 135-143 LAL. LeBron James turned back the clock and was only 7 rebounds short of a triple-double, while Luka did Luka things and ended up with a 45-point triple-double — these are the types of guys you get when you tank for a top 5 draft pick. Keyonte George and the Jazz made it as close as they could in this high-scoring outing, but the lack of defensive effort and awareness cost Utah the game. Keyonte George was Utah’s highest scorer in this match, where he tallied another 30+ point game (34 pts) along with 8 assists, and 4 rebounds on 45/45/91 shooting splits.

In the first half of the game, the Utah Jazz youth came to life as they dropped a whopping 78 points before the halftime buzzer sounded, led by who other than Keyonte George (also shoutout Brice Sensabaugh who had 15 points tonight) — Key had 18 points and 5 assists at the end of the second. I just want to take a second and talk about Keyonte George’s incredible offensive breakout this year, and this may end up being more of a Keyonte George appreciation post than a post-game recap, but I’ll be sure to include UTA vs LAL analysis a bit before I dive into the Keyonte George all-star propaganda.

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I felt like the youth were clicking on offense. Ace Bailey had another game with 13 shot attempts and ended up with 19 points in the game. I think that Will Hardy has been taking his development at the perfect pace. Ace Bailey was someone who was going to need to run a lot of offensive sets away from the basketball, especially with a developing handle.

Filipowski has been showing signs of life as of late due to increased minutes and usage on offense. Flip had one of, if not the biggest, rebounding games of this season and his career with 13 rebounds! Ever since the Summer League and even last season, I felt like Filipowski was struggling to adapt to the brutal physicality of the NBA, especially on the defensive glass, so it’s really great to see him hold his own against the Lakers’ frontcourt in LeBron James, Jaxson Hayes, and Rui Hachimura — all of whom have length and mass.

Nurkic continues to show his connective ability and versatility on offense in the sense that he can be utilized in a myriad of ways. He likes operating at the top of the key to find cutters or run DHOs (dribble handoffs), especially with the guards — Keyonte George is very efficient/effective coming out of handoff playtypes, and we’ll touch more on that later. One thing that Nurkic has been very bad at is his touch around the basket. Among centers that have taken more than 50 2PT attempts, Nurkic is ranked 5th WORST in the league. Nurk has also been the 3rd worst PLAYER in the league when it comes to scoring in the restricted area. His rim scoring has taken a massive hit and has been terrible in the pick-and-roll. Definitely not someone you want on your roster long term and is a perfect piece to build around… if you want to lose as many games as possible.

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Isaiah Collier had his best game of the season with an 18-point, 13-assist, double-double. This was undoubtedly the best game he has had all year. Offensively, he has a huge question mark above his head in terms of his future with the Jazz. This is his time to show that he can be a rotation player on our team going forward, which includes some major strides on the defensive end because ball watching, over-committing as a help defender, fouling at a high rate, and just straight up losing your defender, will NOT earn him a spot on this team going forward. His playmaking is fantastic, but his reluctance to shoot the ball is a major concern going forward. There’s a lot of development that needs to happen with Collier, and I believe he can become a legitimate NBA player with a role where he can find some consistent playing time, but he has to figure things out. I am very intrigued to see what Collier becomes as he gets an increased number of repetitions as the season goes on.

Cody Williams did not play after his best game… ever? Hmm.

KEYONTE GEORGE’S GREATNESS:

Keyonte has taken an unbelievable stride in his efficiency at the rim, jumping from 61.4% last year to 68.1% this season. Not only has he jumped in rim%, but he has made a leap in mid-range efficiency. The thing that stands out the most to me is the change in his 3PT shot diet, cutting his 3PT rate/frequency down by nearly 15%!

By attacking within the perimeter instead of chucking 3PT attempts, it has allowed him to increase his FT rate dramatically — Keyonte has embraced contact and increased his FTr by 13.2% and was ranked 10th in the league in FT attempts before tonight’s game.

Keyonte George was one of the most effective guards in the league operating out of dribble handoffs last season, finishing ranked No. 1 in handoff efficiency. He showed a clear comfort level coming off DHOs — usually initiated by a big — where his ability to make quick, decisive reads stood out. Whether it was flowing directly into a pull-up jumper, turning the corner when defenders trailed, or hitting the short roll when help stepped up, Keyonte consistently punished defensive mistakes, turning a structure-heavy action into real offensive value rather than simply benefiting from it.

Another area where Keyonte has grown more efficient is his isolation scoring. This dude was already a scary guy to guard 1 on 1 with because he has the ball on a string and can get to any spot he could on the floor. However, the problem he’s had so far in the NBA is that the ball was not falling… but it’s falling now. Below, I will show you his collegiate play types, primarily focusing on the off-the-dribble scoring. I’ll also show his shot diet at Baylor as well.

Most of Keyonte’s shooting numbers off the dribble were actually pretty average for a college guard from an efficiency standpoint. However, his diet was considered questionable as he settled for a significant amount of mid-range shot attempts. His diet has carried over for the most part, but he has grown much more efficient as his body has developed and as he has learned how to read NBA defenses, resulting in more confident shots.

Keyonte has always been an average spot-up shooter dating back to college, and it’s carried over to being about league average, but guess what, HE’S JUMPED IN THAT AREA AS WELL! From having a spot-up TS% average of around 54.6% the previous 2 years, he is already on a tear, jumping 20% in spot-up efficiency, and is in the 89th percentile (ranked 30th in the league).

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This is no doubt an all-star jump from an offensive standpoint. This is just the scoring part of his game, as well; we haven’t even gotten to the playmaking yet.

Don’t let these numbers scare you, all you have to do is look at the colors and see them slowly start to improve as the years go on, because that just seems to be the trend with Key. Key has been cutting down his bad playmaking turnovers, which is a catalyst in his slight improvement in his advanced passing numbers — most of his turnovers actually come from scoring the basketball, which makes sense as a young point guard who is your primary ball handler.

Another thing that could be a factor in his improved passing is his change in shot diet — by him bending defenses with his offensive gravity as he attacks downhill, it could present an increase in potential playmaking opportunities, and Key is capitalizing on opponents’ defensive lapses by making the correct reads.

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Keyonte George should be in serious contention for not only an All-Star appearance but for winning the Most Improved Player award. NO QUESTION.

Now, are there some serious concerns about the defense? 1000% yes. In almost every defensive all-in-one metric, Keyonte George is likely to be found in the bottom 5-10 of the list. There is a visual increase in effort, but the production is still lackluster. For guards who have guarded over 100 opponent FGA, Keyonte George is ranked 5th in Defensive FGA. As poor a defender as he is, this is not Will Hardy intentionally making Keyonte the primary guard defender on the roster like Dyson Daniels and Ryan Rollins, who have more DFGA than Key, this is because he is being targeted by the opposing team.

Not only is he being targeted, but his opponents are scoring at a 52.1% clip — out of 155 players with over 100 defended FGA, Keyonte ranks 139th in FG% allowed among guards. So, Key is being targeted, and he is allowing a lot of points. Can he put up more points on offense than he allows on defense? Maybe, but what happens on a bad scoring night? I’ll leave that up for you to decide for yourself.

Again, his defensive numbers are very poor and have been something that has not improved; in fact, they have gotten worse. The Utah Jazz are actually even better on defense when he is off the floor by 12.5 points! THAT IS TERRIBLE!!! Even with his offensive jump, the Jazz are only 2.6 points better when he is on, leaving him with a total net rating of -9.8, meaning he is a negative impact player overall. Does this mean he can’t win you games? Not at all, we have seen it this season time and time again as he continues to try to ruin the Jazz’s tanking endeavors. I believe he is a sensational and insanely fun regular-season player who can absolutely stuff the stat sheet. I am rooting for him fully, and I hope that when the Jazz eventually return to the playoffs, he will be an offensive monster and lead us to the promised land. Will it take some creative roster building? No doubt. It’s going to take a lot to be able to make up for his lack of defensive production.

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Keyonte George is extension-eligible at the end of this offseason, and the Jazz could choose not to offer him an extension as they did with Walker Kessler, but how much is he worth from an impact on basketball POV?

That being said, Keyonte George has exceeded my expectations tenfold and could continue to do so. I am super happy for this kid and am excited to watch him night in and night out, throughout his career, no matter what team he’s on.