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  • Arizona Diamondbacks Hire Ben Fritz As Lead Pitching Coach

    Ben Fritz is the new pitching coach for the Arizona Cardinals

    Phoenix — The Arizona Diamondbacks are hiring Ben Fritz as their lead pitching coach, bringing him over from the San Diego Padres to run the pitching staff for 2027.

    First reported by Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

    Fritz, 45, is a San Jose native who takes the job Brian Kaplan held. Kaplan is not returning for 2027.

    The change comes after a season in which Arizona’s pitching got better in the second half, with the relievers doing a good job in September. The open question down the stretch was stamina — the stamina of some of the pitchers could fairly be questioned by September, and the Diamondbacks missed the postseason by one game.

    Fritz has been in the Padres organization for more than a decade. He joined San Diego as a coach in 2015, working with the Arizona League Padres, then managed the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2016 and 2017. He served as the rehabilitation coordinator for the Padres’ Arizona complex in 2018 and 2019, was named the Padres’ bullpen coach after the 2019 season, and stepped up as San Diego’s pitching coach in August 2021 when the Padres fired Larry Rothschild.

    As a player, Fritz was a first-round pick — the Oakland Athletics took him 30th overall in the 2002 draft out of Fresno State. He pitched in Oakland’s minor league system from 2002 through 2007, had Tommy John surgery in 2004, spent 2008 with Detroit after the Tigers selected him in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, and finished his playing career with two seasons for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League.

    He now crosses over inside the National League West, from San Diego’s dugout to Arizona’s, as the Diamondbacks set their coaching staff for 2027.

    Picture option: Fritz in the Padres dugout during his San Diego tenure (public, non-AP).

    Article provided by News Tracker

    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us

     

  • VidantaWorld Mexico Open Scores

    1
    USA
    2
    FRA
    3
    USA
    T4
    USA
    T4
    USA
    T4
    USA
    T7
    CAN
    T7
    USA
    T9
    KOR
    T9
    USA
    T9
    USA
    T9
    JPN
    T13
    NOR
    T13
    ZAF
    T13
    USA
    T13
    USA
    T17
    ENG
    T17
    ZAF
    T17
    USA
    T17
    USA
    -11 66* 67 69 11:45 AM 202
    T17
    BEL
    T22
    PRI
    T22
    CAN
    T22
    JPN
    T22
    USA
    T26
    AUS
    T26
    USA
    T26
    USA
    T26
    USA
    T26
    USA
    T26
    USA
    T26
    ZAF
    T26
    MEX
    T26
    USA
    T26
    CAN
    T36
    COL
    T36
    USA
    T36
    SWE
    T36
    ENG
    T36
    ENG
    T41
    USA
    T41
    CAN
    T41
    CHN
    T41
    USA
    T41
    USA
    T41
    USA
    T41
    USA
    T41
    CHN
    -7 68* 66 72 11:23 AM* 206
    T41
    DNK
    T41
    USA
    T41
    USA
    T41
    USA
    T41
    ENG
    T41
    USA
    T55
    USA
    T55
    CAN
    T55
    USA
    T55
    USA
    59
    ARG
    T60
    CAN
    T60
    USA
    T60
    USA
    T63
    USA
    T63
    USA
    T65
    AUS
    T65
    USA
    67
    DEU
    68
    USA
    CUT
    USA
    -3 70* 69 – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -3 70* 69 – – 139
    CUT
    ARG
    -3 71 68* – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -3 74 65* – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -3 71* 68 – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -3 68* 71 – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -3 69 70* – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -3 68 71* – – 139
    CUT
    PHL
    -3 69* 70 – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -3 71* 68 – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -3 66 73* – – 139
    CUT
    USA
    -2 71* 69 – – 140
    CUT
    ENG
    -2 68 72* – – 140
    CUT
    USA
    -2 68* 72 – – 140
    CUT
    USA
    -2 72 68* – – 140
    CUT
    USA
    -2 71 69* – – 140
    CUT
    USA
    -2 67* 73 – – 140
    CUT
    USA
    -2 69* 71 – – 140
    CUT
    USA
    -2 74* 66 – – 140
    CUT
    CAN
    -2 71 69* – – 140
    CUT
    USA
    -2 72 68* – – 140
    CUT
    USA
    -2 68 72* – – 140
    CUT
    CAN
    -1 75* 66 – – 141
    CUT
    USA
    -1 69* 72 – – 141
    CUT
    MEX
    -1 74 67* – – 141
    CUT
    USA
    -1 72* 69 – – 141
    CUT
    USA
    -1 72 69* – – 141
    CUT
    MEX
    -1 71* 70 – – 141
    CUT
    JPN
    E 71 71* – – 142
    CUT
    TWN
    E 72* 70 – – 142
    CUT
    USA
    E 69 73* – – 142
    CUT
    USA
    E 70* 72 – – 142
    CUT
    DNK
    E 72 70* – – 142
    CUT
    MEX
    E 71 71* – – 142
    CUT
    ZAF
    E 70* 72 – – 142
    CUT
    SWE
    +1 76 67* – – 143
    CUT
    USA
    +1 76 67* – – 143
    CUT
    USA
    +1 71* 72 – – 143
    CUT
    USA
    +1 73* 70 – – 143
    CUT
    USA
    +1 73* 70 – – 143
    CUT
    MEX
    +2 73* 71 – – 144
    CUT
    USA
    +2 74 70* – – 144
    CUT
    USA
    +2 72 72* – – 144
    CUT
    USA
    +3 76 69* – – 145
    CUT
    USA
    +4 71* 75 – – 146
    CUT
    USA
    +4 77* 69 – – 146
    CUT
    USA
    +4 71* 75 – – 146
    CUT
    USA
    +5 72 75* – – 147
    CUT
    MEX
    +6 73 75* – – 148
    CUT
    ZAF
    +6 75 73* – – 148
    CUT
    COL
    +7 78 71* – – 149
    WD
    USA
    – – – –
    WD
    – – – – – –
    WD
    – – – – – –
    WD
    – –
  • Golden State Valkyries Beat Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7 to Win First WNBA Championship

    San Francisco — The Golden State Valkyries are champions, beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on Saturday night at Chase Center in the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history — and they won it the way they won all year, with defense and with Gabby Williams taking the game over when nothing else was working.

    Williams had two points at halftime. She finished with 30, and the Finals MVP trophy, scoring Golden State’s final 11 points of the third quarter and answering every Atlanta push in the fourth. Atlanta led 30-24 at the half — the team ahead at halftime had won all six games of this series — and Golden State erased it in the third, outscoring the Dream 21-14 to take a 45-44 lead into the fourth.

    Williams was Golden State’s first marquee signing, brought in from Seattle as a defender first — the WNBA’s steals leader in 2025 and a three-time EuroLeague Defensive Player of the Year in her years overseas. On Saturday she was both: four blocks and the game’s defense early, then 28 of her 30 points after halftime. 

    The last three minutes were the whole series in miniature. Rhyne Howard’s layup tied the game 57-57 with 2:41 left. Williams answered from 31 feet, a three-pointer that put Golden State up three with 2:10 to go and sent Chase Center shaking. She added two free throws, Kiah Stokes scored late inside, and Atlanta refused to fold: Allisha Gray hit a three with 36 seconds left to get within four, then two free throws with 11 seconds left to make it a three-point game. The Dream forced a jump ball, but Veronica Burton came up with it and made two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to close the door.

    “All it took was good people. That’s it,” Williams said on the broadcast after the win. “All we heard last year: ‘We don’t have no stars, we don’t have no talent,’ yeah right. We got winners. We got people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win the game. They don’t care about scoring, they just want to play defense and rebound and do whatever it takes. We’ve just built a beautiful culture here.”

    Burton, cut by Dallas two years ago, finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists — and the two free throws that finished it. “We didn’t let anyone put a limit on us all year,” she said. “When you work and when you put your head down and you grind, anything is possible.”

    Stokes grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked two more shots, finishing the series with 19 blocks, a Finals record. Tiffany Hayes, who spent 10 seasons with Atlanta, scored 11 for Golden State. Jordin Canada led the Dream with 18 points and Gray had 16. And Angel Reese, one of the biggest stars in the league, never got going — Golden State held her to eight points in the biggest game of the year, and her 12 rebounds were all the Dream got from their franchise player. Atlanta has now reached the Finals four times and lost all four.

    Golden State owner Joe Lacob guaranteed a championship within the franchise’s first five years when the Bay Area got the team. It took two. “We gotta build a bigger trophy case,” co-owner Peter Guber said.

    Article provided by News Tracker

    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us

    18 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST
    30 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST
    STARTERS PTS REB AST FG 3PT FT PF MIN STL BLK TO +/- FPTS
    J. Canada 18 4 5 6/15 2/7 4/6 2 36 2 0 2 0 32
    A. Gray 16 6 2 5/16 2/6 4/4 2 34 0 0 0 -9 26
    A. Reese 8 12 1 3/7 1/3 1/3 3 33 1 2 4 -9 21
    R. Howard 6 6 3 3/14 0/7 0/0 4 38 3 0 3 -5 18
    N. Hillmon 3 3 3 1/5 0/2 1/1 3 33 0 0 0 +1 12
    BENCH PTS REB AST FG 3PT FT PF MIN STL BLK TO +/- FPTS
    I. Borlase 8 2 0 3/6 1/2 1/1 1 14 0 0 0 -11 10
    D. Bonner 4 2 1 2/6 0/3 0/0 1 14 0 0 1 +8 7
    Total 63 35 15 23/69 6/30 11/15 16 202 6 2 10 -25 –
    1 2 3 4 T

    4 Dream 3-4

    12 18 14 19 63

    2 Valkyries 4-3

    14 10 21 23 68
    STARTERS PTS REB AST FG 3PT FT PF MIN STL BLK TO +/- FPTS
    G. Williams 30 3 2 10/23 4/8 6/6 2 38 2 4 1 +7 42
    T. Hayes 11 0 1 4/9 0/1 3/4 5 31 1 0 2 -1 12
    V. Burton 10 10 5 3/13 0/5 4/4 3 39 0 1 2 +7 29
    K. Stokes 8 13 1 4/7 0/2 0/0 0 30 1 2 0 +7 26
    K. Charles 4 7 1 1/4 0/1 2/2 2 37 2 1 3 +7 13
    BENCH PTS REB AST FG 3PT FT PF MIN STL BLK TO +/- FPTS
    K. Thornton 3 3 1 1/2 1/2 0/0 1 16 1 0 0 -4 9
    C. Zandalasini 2 1 0 1/5 0/1 0/0 0 8 0 0 1 +4 2
    K. Chen 0 0 0 0/1 0/0 0/0 1 1 0 0 0 -2 0
    Total 68 37 11 24/64 5/20 15/16 14 200 7 8 9 +25 –

     

  • No. 7 UCLA Bruins Shut Out Nevada Wolf Pack 27-0 at the Rose Bowl

    Pasadena, Calif. — The No. 7 UCLA Bruins (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) pitched their first shutout in 11 years on Saturday, blanking the Nevada Wolf Pack (3-5, 2-2 Mountain West) 27-0 at the Rose Bowl behind a defense that intercepted passes on Nevada’s first three drives and never let the Wolf Pack breathe.

    The tone was set on the very first play from scrimmage, when Scooter Jackson intercepted former UCLA teammate Luke Duncan at the Nevada 30, setting up Mateen Bhaghani’s 26-yard field goal. Nevada drove to the UCLA 18 on its next possession, and Jalen Woods picked off a tipped pass. On the Wolf Pack’s third drive, Derrick Barksdale took an interception 26 yards the other way for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead, 7:34 into the game. Three drives, three interceptions — the Bruins’ offense barely had to work for its head start.

    UCLA’s first offensive touchdown came at the end of the half, a 10-play, 71-yard drive finished by quarterback Ty Dieffenbach’s 4-yard touchdown run with 1:20 left for a 17-0 halftime lead. The Bruins held Nevada to 94 yards in the first half, the fifth time in eight games they have kept an opponent under 100 yards before halftime.

    The second half ran the same way. Dieffenbach threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Knight in the third quarter for 24-0. Nevada’s best chance all day came on the next drive, reaching the UCLA 30 before missing a 48-yard field goal. Bhaghani’s 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter made it 27-0, and Ty Lee’s interception with 53 seconds left — UCLA’s fourth of the game — let the Bruins kneel out the clock.

    Dieffenbach finished 16 of 30 for 178 yards with a touchdown passing and another rushing. Nevada managed 176 total yards for the game. Defensive lineman Sahir West led UCLA with nine tackles and 1.5 sacks, and Aiden Gobaira added 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss.

    The shutout is UCLA’s first since a 41-0 win at Oregon State in 2015, and its first at the Rose Bowl since beating Oregon 16-0 in 2007. The Bruins, 8-0 for the first time since 2005, sit alone atop the Big Ten with the first College Football Playoff rankings coming Tuesday.

    UCLA plays at Minnesota on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 9 a.m. PT on FOX.

    Article provided by Sports Tracker

    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us

  • Buffalo Sabres Beat Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Tage Thompson’s Two Goals

     

    Los Angeles — The Los Angeles Kings (4-7-2) climbed out of a two-goal hole Saturday afternoon and still went home with nothing, falling 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres (7-4-3) at Crypto.com Arena on a power-play one-timer by Phoenix native Tage Thompson with 6:20 left in the game.

    Buffalo led 2-0 before the Kings ever got going. Jack Quinn scored on the power play 6:35 into the first period, and Thompson made it 2-0 at 15:38 of the second, snapping one inside the far post for his 222nd goal as a Sabre — tying Rene Robert for ninth in franchise history. For a long stretch the Kings were the ones creating the chances: Brandt Clarke rang a shot off the post in the first period, Quinton Byfield hit iron nine seconds into the second, and Buffalo goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned away everything that actually reached him, finishing with 27 saves.

    The Kings’ first goal had to survive a review. Corey Perry’s power-play goal at 17:25 of the second was waved off on the ice, and Los Angeles won a coach’s challenge to get it counted, cutting the lead to 2-1. Andre Lee then tied the game 2-2 just 1:28 into the third period, alone in front, beating Luukkonen on the glove side.

    The game turned on a penalty the Kings didn’t need. Mikey Anderson was called for tripping in the third, and on the power play Thompson took a feed and buried the one-timer at 13:40 for the 3-2 lead Buffalo kept. It was Thompson’s second straight multi-goal game — he had a natural hat trick and five points in Anaheim on Thursday — and the Sabres’ third straight win, closing a four-game road trip with seven of a possible eight points.

    Quinn added an assist to go with his goal, and Zach Benson and Rasmus Dahlin each had two assists for Buffalo. Anton Forsberg made 28 saves for Los Angeles, which played without top-line winger Adrian Kempe for the first time this season — rookie Martin Chromiak made his NHL debut in his place.

    The Kings host the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

    For stats information, go to www.cbssports.com.

    Article provided by Sports Tracker

    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us

    1 2 3 T

    7-4-3

    1 1 1 3
    0 1 1 2
    SKATERS G A +/- SOG FW/FL PIM TOI HITS
    Z. Benson LW 0 2 0 4 0/0 0 23:20 1
    S. Carrick C 0 0 0 4 1/0 0 07:37 4
    L. Crevier D 0 0 -1 0 0/0 2 10:26 0
    R. Dahlin D 0 2 1 2 0/0 4 23:21 0
    J. Doan RW 0 0 0 3 0/0 0 13:22 0
    T. Kozak C 0 0 -1 0 2/8 0 11:27 1
    P. Krebs C 0 0 1 0 4/7 2 15:41 5
    B. Malenstyn LW 0 0 -1 0 0/0 0 12:54 2
    R. McLeod C 0 0 0 0 4/3 2 14:25 1
    Z. Metsa D 0 0 0 2 0/0 0 10:22 0
    J. Norris C 0 0 0 0 3/3 2 09:12 1
    N. Ostlund C 0 0 0 3 0/4 0 18:14 0
    O. Power D 0 0 0 0 0/0 0 27:12 0
    J. Quinn RW 1 1 0 2 0/0 0 17:31 0
    M. Samuelsson D 0 1 1 1 0/0 0 25:59 0
    T. Thompson C 2 0 1 8 5/9 2 20:09 0
    O. Zellweger D 0 0 -1 1 0/0 0 19:51 0
    J. Zucker LW 0 0 0 1 0/0 0 08:47 0
    Total 3 6 0 31 19/34 14 – 15
    SKATERS G A +/- SOG FW/FL PIM TOI HITS
    M. Anderson D 0 0 0 1 0/0 2 18:11 0
    J. Armia RW 0 1 1 2 0/0 0 10:40 2
    Q. Byfield RW 0 0 -1 0 15/6 0 22:15 0
    M. Chromiak RW 0 0 0 1 0/0 0 17:31 1
    B. Clarke D 0 1 -1 1 0/0 0 20:07 2
    D. Doughty D 0 0 1 1 0/0 0 23:11 2
    B. Dumoulin D 0 0 0 0 0/0 2 14:38 1
    J. Edmundson D 0 0 1 0 0/0 2 18:05 1
    E. Gustafsson D 0 0 -1 1 0/0 0 21:35 1
    E. Haula LW 0 0 0 2 6/3 0 11:44 5
    S. Helenius C 0 0 0 0 2/0 0 05:41 1
    A. Laferriere RW 0 0 0 3 3/6 0 23:13 4
    S. Laughton C 0 1 1 0 8/4 0 11:05 1
    A. Lee LW 1 0 1 2 0/0 0 09:32 2
    T. Moore LW 0 1 -1 3 0/0 0 18:30 0
    A. Panarin LW 0 0 0 3 0/0 0 24:50 0
    C. Perry RW 1 0 -1 9 0/0 2 19:42 1
    T. Ward RW 0 0 0 0 0/0 0 06:11 4
    Total 2 4 0 29 34/19 8 – 28
    GOALIES SA GA SV SV% TOI
    U. Luukkonen 29 2 27 0.931 60:00
    GOALIES SA GA SV SV% TOI
    A. Forsberg 31 3 28 0.903 57:57
  • Arizona State Sun Devils’ Freshmen Grow Up in 27-20 Loss at BYU Cougars

    Coach Kenny Dillingham after a hard fought loss to BYU

    Provo, Utah — The Arizona State Sun Devils (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) lost a football game in Provo on Saturday. They also found out what their future looks like under pressure.

    Three freshmen played heavy minutes on offense at No. 8 BYU (7-1, 4-1), in one of the loudest buildings in the Big 12, and after falling behind 17-3 at halftime they tied the game in the third quarter before falling 27-20. Quarterback Jake Fette, making his first career start, and running back Cardae Mack carried the comeback — and afterward, both the freshman and his head coach told the same story about how it happened.

    It started as badly as a debut can start. Fette was strip-sacked on his first pass attempt, and ASU coach Kenny Dillingham broke the play down afterward: it was a run-pass option, Fette held the ball too long treating it like a dropback, and BYU rushed the edge. “Great learning experience,” Dillingham said, “and he came up and was like, man, I held it too long. That’s what you want to see in quarterbacks — they’re hard to coach in a good way, because they already know what they saw. I felt like that with Jake throughout the night, especially in the second half.”

    Fette said the same thing about himself. “I need to come out better in the first half,” he said. “A quarterback can’t start that slow in the first half of a game like this. I was just being antsy in the first half, which isn’t me.”

    The second half was the version ASU has been waiting for. Fette threw his first career touchdown pass, 20 yards to Omarion Miller, then tied the game 17-17 with a 1-yard scoring pass to Anthony Smith. Mack ran 23 times for 123 yards between the throws. “I thought Cardae played really well,” Dillingham said. “I thought Jake really snapped into a rhythm there in the second half. He was very confident delivering the ball.” Fette pointed right back at his running back: “Especially Cardae — I know I can always count on him.”

    The defense gave them the chance. ASU held BYU to 47 rushing yards for the game, and an interception late in the first half kept the deficit from growing past 17 points. “Down 14 on the road in this environment, not doing anything on offense — defense comes up with a big pick, then we get stop, score, stop, score,” Dillingham said. “Really good response by our guys. But we’re one play short, one score short.”

    The play that decided it was BYU’s long fourth-quarter drive, finished by Sione Moa’s 1-yard touchdown run with 2:12 left. Dillingham put that one on himself. “We can’t give up a 95-yard drive at the end of the game with the game on the line,” he said. “Whether it’s be more aggressive — I gotta be more aggressive, I gotta do something to get us off the field in that scenario. And you gotta give a lot of credit for both of his fourth-down calls there. They absolutely changed the football game.” He took the offense’s only false start on himself too — it came right after a big Derek Eusebio catch, with ASU hurrying to snap the ball before  BYU could ask for a review.

    Fette still had the ball late with a chance, and Dillingham used it to go after Miller one-on-one in the red zone — BYU had rolled its free safety toward Reed Harris all night, and the matchup was there. The fades didn’t land. “We knew we had to get him going to win the game,” Dillingham said. “I have no issue throwing the ball to O in that scenario. If you catch it, it may spark something for the rest of the game.”

    It didn’t spark, and ASU goes home 4-4. But the freshman quarterback stood in a hostile stadium afterward and sounded like anything but a freshman. “I love playing football,” Fette said. “I love being in the hostile environment. Wish I could have done better, but this is what I love to do. They made one more play than us.”

    The Sun Devils host Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe. The freshmen who grew up in Provo will be out there again.

    Article provided by Sports Tracker

    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us

  • Texas Tech Red Raiders Run Past Arizona Wildcats 34-26 in Lubbock

     

    Lubbock, Texas — The No. 22 Arizona Wildcats (6-2, 3-2 Big 12) had a 10-point lead in the second quarter and the game where they wanted it. The No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-1, 4-1) took it back the simplest way there is — they ran the ball until Arizona couldn’t stop it, piling up 328 rushing yards in a 34-26 win Saturday at Galaxy Stadium that snapped the Wildcats’ five-game winning streak.

    Tommy Castellanos, starting at quarterback in place of Will Hammond, threw two touchdown passes and ran for 117 yards and a score. J’Koby Williams ran for 175 yards, and his 64-yard touchdown run with 2:05 left stretched the lead to 34-23 and finished the game off.

    Arizona opened the scoring on a 35-yard field goal by Michael Salgado-Medina, and after Castellanos answered with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Carter Jr., Noah Fifita hit Isaiah Mizell for a 94-yard touchdown on third-and-12 to put the Wildcats back in front. Kedrick Reescano’s rushing touchdown made it 17-7 with two minutes left in the first half, and Arizona took a 17-10 lead into halftime.

    The second half belonged to the Texas Tech ground game, which averaged seven yards a carry. Reescano’s second rushing touchdown pushed Arizona’s lead to 23-17 in the third quarter, but Castellanos put the Red Raiders ahead for good late in the third, finding Kenny Johnson for a 27-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2. A field goal made it 27-23 before Williams broke free for the 64-yarder, and Texas Tech recovered Arizona’s onside kick after a late Wildcats field goal to run out the clock.

    The numbers tell the whole game: Texas Tech ran for 328 yards, Arizona ran for 12. Fifita threw for 417 yards anyway — 33 of 45 with the one touchdown — but he was sacked five times, and the Wildcats never found a running game to lean on. Mizell caught seven passes for 182 yards, his third straight 100-yard game.

    “I’m proud of our team,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “They fought their ass off for four quarters, and we didn’t get it done, and that’s disappointing. But there was a lot of really great moments in that game, and a lot of things that we need to fix. Just Noah Fifita, what a warrior. He’s such a special kid.”

    Brennan pointed to the series where the offense stalled in the second half. “A couple of series we got behind the chains, and that part of it, that execution, we got to go back to the drawing board,” he said.

    Arizona also lost freshman receiver R.J. Mosley, who was carted off late in the third quarter. “RJ Mosley is being evaluated for a lower leg injury, and I don’t know anything more about it right now,” Brennan said. “I do want to thank Coach McGuire and Texas Tech. They’ve been very, very helpful with that process.” 

    The win was Texas Tech’s 13th straight at home, tying the school record set from 1939 to 1942, and it keeps the Red Raiders a game behind Utah in the Big 12 race. Arizona falls into the pack at 3-2 in the league, its title hopes now needing help.

    “We have to work through this for 24 hours, and then we got to get ready for TCU,” Brennan said. “It’s a short week, and so we’re going to assess this, we’re going to grind it out, and I believe in this team.”

    Arizona hosts TCU on Friday night in Tucson.Picture option:

    J’Koby Williams on his 64-yard touchdown run (Texas Tech Athletics).

    Article provided by Sports Tracker

    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us

     

  • No. 8 BYU Cougars Hold Off Arizona State Sun Devils 27-20 in Provo

    BYU go ahead TD late Sione Moa extending lead to 27-17 picture from Fox Sports

    Provo, Utah — The Arizona State Sun Devils (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) erased a 14-point halftime deficit in one third quarter — and it still wasn’t enough. The No. 8 BYU Cougars (7-1, 4-1) answered with 10 fourth-quarter points and held on for a 27-20 win Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium, in a game where the touchdown that decided it came on a fumble at the goal line in the first quarter.

    True freshman Jake Fette made his first career start for Arizona State and had a nightmare opening — strip-sacked on his first pass attempt, with BYU recovering at the Sun Devils’ 29. The Cougars drove to the 1-yard line, where Bear Bachmeier was held short on one sneak and fumbled on the next. Officials first ruled the play dead on forward progress, then, after two reviews, credited BYU running back Sione Moa with recovering the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead — a call FOX rules analyst Mike Pereira disagreed with on the broadcast and one that left ASU coach Kenny Dillingham furious. In a seven-point final, that touchdown was the margin.

    Carson Smith’s 24-yard field goal got Arizona State on the board in the second quarter, but a 28-yard BYU field goal and Bachmeier’s touchdown pass to Kyler Kasper sent the Sun Devils into halftime down 17-3.

    The third quarter was a different game. Fette settled in and threw his first career touchdown pass, a 20-yarder to Omarion Miller, then tied the game at 17-17 with a 1-yard scoring pass to Anthony Smith. Freshman running back Cardae Mack carried the offense between the throws, running 23 times for 123 yards.

    BYU took the lead back for good on Matthias Dunn’s 45-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, then put together the drive of the day — 11 plays, 82 yards — finished by Moa’s 1-yard touchdown run with 2:12 left for a 27-17 lead. Smith’s 44-yard field goal with a minute to play cut it to 27-20, but the Sun Devils never got the ball back, and BYU ran out the clock.

    Fette finished 22 of 42 for 166 yards with the two touchdowns and no interceptions, but he was sacked six times — a freshman under pressure all afternoon. Bachmeier went 19 of 30 for 236 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The strangest number of the day: BYU, a team built on running the ball, rushed for only 47 yards total. Arizona State’s defense held up its end; the Sun Devils simply gave away seven points at the goal line in the first quarter and spent the rest of the day chasing them.

    The loss drops Arizona State to 4-4, and the Sun Devils’ wait for a win in Utah goes on — they have not won in the state since 1994. BYU, coming off last week’s loss at UCF, stays in control of its own path in the Big 12 race at 4-1.

    Arizona State hosts Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, 5:30 p.m. MST on ESPN2.

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    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us

  • The Suns Snapshot Report

    Devin Booker and the Suns offense reappears

    The Phoenix Suns woke up Saturday at 1-3, and their head coach knows exactly where Friday night’s 127-120 NBA Cup loss to Denver went wrong. “I think that [it was] periods of loss — that’s what we just talked about — periods where that was our energy, that was our intensity, and there’s a piece of execution in some of those moments,” Jordan Ott said afterward. It stung more because of the week behind it — “We stressed defense for three days — we stressed it for a little longer than that” — and because Denver got shooting from a place nobody plans for. “They got some shot-making from a guy that’s made five all year — made seven. I believe that’s a career high, I would guess.”

    What the Suns found inside the loss is a bench guard playing his way into more. Collin Gillespie posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists and added four steals in 33 minutes, a lift the Suns needed once Dillon Brooks was ejected and on a night Jalen Green was quiet. With Phoenix searching for answers early in the season, Gillespie’s playmaking could earn him an expanded role — and Friday showed why.

    Miles Bridges keeps answering, too. He led Phoenix with 24 points and 10 rebounds and blocked three shots, another double-double in a first season in Phoenix where he has quickly become a key part of the frontcourt, never more so than after Brooks went out in the third. Brooks was headed for a big night himself — season highs of 22 points and four three-pointers in just 21 minutes — before a Flagrant 2 for kicking Jamal Murray in the groin area on a jumper ended it early.

    Devin Booker’s 30th birthday was harder work: 20 points in a team-high 39 minutes on a night his shot fought him, with four turnovers, while Bridges, Brooks and Gillespie picked up the slack. The Suns need more efficiency from their franchise player, and he’ll look for it Monday at Golden State — where Oso Ighodaro, back Friday from the oblique injury that cost him two games, will still be on an unspecified minutes restriction, a return that could trim Khaman Maluach’s work.

    Ott’s plan from here was simple enough. “Continue to go back, keep adding layers to it, and we’ll keep pounding on our guys to see where we can take this thing.”

    For stats information, visit www.cbssports.com.

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    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us

  • Arizona State Sun Devils Sweep UCF Knights 3-0 In Big 12 Play

    Tempe — No. 10 Arizona State (17-4, 8-2 Big 12) swept UCF (11-9, 3-7 Big 12) 3-0 on Friday night at Desert Financial Arena, 25-14, 25-16, 25-11.

    Up next: the Sun Devils host Houston on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. at Desert Financial Arena, on ESPN+.

    Arizona State hit .433 as a team — nearly half of its swings landed for kills — while UCF hit just .034, barely above zero, and the sweep never felt in doubt after the opening set.

    Set 1, 25-14: Arizona State set the tone from the start and pulled away for an 11-point win.

    Set 2, 25-16: UCF hung around longer, but the Sun Devils closed it out by nine, and the match was firmly in hand at the break.

    Set 3, 25-11: Arizona State finished it in style, taking the third set by 14 — its biggest margin of the night — to complete the sweep in 1 hour, 18 minutes.

    Maéva Schalk led the Sun Devils with 13 kills, followed by Noemie Glover with 12 and Una Vajagić with 11. Vajagić also served four aces. Setter Isabella Costantini ran the offense with 39 assists and added 10 digs for a double-double, and Zoey Burgess led the block with six. Arizona State finished ahead in kills 47-22, blocks 9-2 and aces 6-1.

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    © Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us