Kings defeat Hornets 104-97 for second straight win

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Photo credit: @NBCSKings

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings welcomed the Charlotte Hornets to Golden One Center Saturday night. For the Hornets, this was the second night of a back-to-back after playing the Portland Trail Blazers in Portland, Ore. The Kings were coming off a lopsided game in which they defeated the Detroit Pistons 112-102 in Sacramento The Kings were looking to get back on a roll to try to make it a winning streak against the Hornets. The tip-off was set for 7:00 PM PST.

In the first quarter, the Kings came out strong. Though, the usually reliable Buddy Hield wasn’t having much luck, De’Aaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Willie Cauley-Stein were more than capable to pick up the slack. Those three combined to score 21 points and lead the Kings to an early first quarter lead. For the Hornets, the leading scorer was Kemba Walker with 10 points. The Kings had a 35-29 lead after the first.

In the second quarter, the Kings and Hornets traded point for point, but in the end, Charlotte gained the lead, thanks to great performances from Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the first half. The Kings, on the other hand, struggled in the last minute of the quarter to lose the lead before the half. Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic were the most effective in the half, combining for 25 points. The Hornets took a 59-57 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Kings came to play and scored 25 points compared to the Hornets’ 17. The Kings also played great defense, forcing the the Hornets to turn the ball over 17 times. Marvin Bagley was playing exceptionally good defense under the rim and on the offensive glass. The score was 82-76 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, the Kings attempted to create a little separation but the Hornets weren’t having it. However, the Kings managed to get the score in their favor 102-94 with a minute remaining. At this point, it was the Kings’ game to lose, but they managed to put up 22 points in the fourth to secure the victory 104-97.

The Kings’ leading scorers were Bogdan Bogdanovic (22 points), De’Aaron Fox (21 points), and Buddy Hield (21 points). The win improved the Kings to 22-21 on the season, and with the loss, the Hornets fell to 19-23.

The Kings continue their homestand Monday as they’re set to host the Trail Blazers at 7:00 PM PST.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Jed Lowrie Takes His Show to the Big Apple

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The last time Jed Lowrie played in New York was October 3, 2018 when the A’s visited the Yankees and got eliminated by a score of 7-2 in the AL Wild Card Game. Lowrie signed a 2-year, $20 million deal with the other New York team, the Mets. The Mets picked up a versatile, switch-hitting veteran who came out of his best year in home runs with 23, playing second base for the A’s. He can play all over the infield, but during his last two very productive years with the A’s, he was basically a second-baseman. In 2018, he was selected to his first MLB All-Star Game.

Lowrie peaked last year and now he is going to play in one of the toughest markets in the country. However, he is going to a team that recently also traded for the 8-time All Star Robinson Cano, who still remains as one of the best all-around second-baseman in the game.

During his last two years, Lowire has elevated the ball consistently and also hitting it harder. That are some of the reasons he has enjoyed his success at ages 33 and 34. He A’S also got younger at second base with the acquisition of Jurickson Profar, who will make the young A’s infield even better this coming season.

In 2017, Lowrie showed solid defense when he made 132 starts at second base, and in 2018, when he made 133 starts. He also played shortstop and briefly third base last season when A’s manager Bob Melvin asked him to take over for the injured Matt Chapman. I remember Melvin praised Lowrie for his dedication and professionalism and taking over the third base responsibilities without a problem, always ready to help the team anyway he could. A’s fan thanked Jed Lowrie for the great job he did during his tenure at the Coliseum, establishing a new record for doubles by an A’s second baseman and one of the most steady players in the young A’s in recent years.

Stanford turns it around for an 85-71 win over ASU

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By: Joey Friedman

PALO ALTO — Coming off three straight losses to open conference play, Stanford (8-8) welcomed the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-5) to Maples on Saturday afternoon and won by a final score of 85-71. Stanford has won seven of their last eight home games against the Sun Devils.

The Sun Devils, who are currently unranked, have had a turbulent season with highs like upsets of #1 Kansas and #15 Mississippi State and lows like losses to Princeton and Utah. Nonetheless, prior to the game, ASU led the Pac-12 in scoring offense and rebounding margin.

Stanford jumped out to a quick start and was able to go on a 10-0 run capped by an Oscar Da Silva dunk to put the score at 12-4. That dunk five minutes into the game also gave Da Silva 9 points in just minutes.

Arizona State was able to crawl back, however, and on the back of freshman Luguentz Dort’s three consecutive three-pointers, ASU took a 16-14 lead with about 12 minutes left in the first half.

The two teams remained neck-and-neck for the rest of the half before Stanford took a two-point lead to the break with the score 40-38.

Stanford offense flowed well in the first half as they only turned the ball over three times, definitely an improvement from past performances. On defense, Stanford rolled and forced a number of shot clock violations which prevented ASU for gathering momentum. For the Cardinal, Oscar Da Silva finished the half with 14 points and seven rebounds while KZ Okpala and Daejon Davis each collected 10 points. For the Sun Devils, Luguentz Dort had with 15 points and shot 3-5 from beyond the arc.

Stanford opened the second half on a 12-0 run fueled by a Cormac Ryan three-pointer and an Oscar da Silva slam dunk. ASU scored their first points of the half on a jumper from senior Zylan Cheatham at the 14:33 mark which brought the score to 52-40 in favor of the Cardinal.

Freshman Cormac Ryan, who had 4 points, exited the game with a left ankle injury 5 minutes into the second half. He would return to the bench in the final minutes of the game, but he wouldn’t receive any further playing time. Jerod Hasse said he and his staff are highly concerned after repeated injuries to both of Ryan’s ankles in recent games.

The Stanford lead shrunk to as few as 5 points with 10 minutes left in the game but Daejon Davis quickly got the crowd back into it and shifted the momentum back in Stanford’s favor when, after he was doubled-teamed and got the back stolen away, he sprinted down the court and blocked an open ASU layup in transition.

With that momentum Stanford caught fire and pulled away once again and, with help for 8 straight points from KZ Okpala which included a pair of threes, the Cardinal stretched their lead to a deciding 19 points with just over 4 minutes left in the game and the score 76-57. Stanford would go on to win with the final score 85-71.

The Cardinal finished with a 53% field goal percentage and 39% three-point percentage while Arizona State finished by shooting 41% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc. Stanford forced 19 turnovers from the Sun Devils and turned those into 26 points— a deciding margin. The Cardinal’s 18 total assists and 3 first-half turnovers were noted by head coach Jerod Hasse as evidence of better offensive play which also received high praise from Da Silva and Okpala after the game. They credited a new mentality, which was caused by having their backs against the wall after starting conference play winless, for making the difference in tonight affair. Jerod Hasse called the ASU victory the best win for the Card of the season considering the energy and the execution of the game plan.

Oscar Da Silva finished a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. KZ Okpala also had 21 points and collected 9 boards. Daejon Davis collected 13 points and 9 assists.

For the Sun Devils, Luguentz Dort, who was held to a single point in the second half, had a team-high 16 points before fouling out. He sat for much of the second half after collecting four fouls early. Sophomore guard Rob Edwards had 13 points while Zylan Cheatham finished with 8 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward Kimani Lawrence collected 10 points and 6 rebounds.

What’s Next?
Stanford will take on the Washington schools on the road and will look to even their Pac-12 record on against UW on January 17 and WSU on January 19.

Arizona State will host the Oregon schools at home first with OSU on January 17 and then UO on January 19.

San Jose State drops third straight conference game in 87-64 loss to Boise State

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball was looking to rebound following five straight losses. SJSU returned home to host the Boise State Broncos inside the Event Center Saturday afternoon.

 

Prior to the midday tip-off, Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau announced his starting lineup of Michael Steadman, Brae Ivey, Oumar Barry, Noah Baumann and Craig LeCesne.

The Spartans won the tip and the game went underway on the SJSU campus. The Broncos got on the board first, thanks to Alex Hobbs’ 3-pointer, but Steadman hit a jumper in the paint to make it a 1-point game at the 18:53 mark of the opening half.

The half turned out to be a back-and-forth affair. Pretty much every time BSU expanded its lead, SJSU countered with a shot or two to pull within for a reduced deficit. Midway through the half, however, big game Baumann showed up, knocking down a jumper and hitting a 3 on a fastbreak to help the Spartans reduce its deficit to just six, 21-15, at the 10:52 mark.

 

 

 

Though, SJSU was just getting started. With 7:26 left in the half, SJSU made four of their last five shots from the field and shot for a 2-pointer after a media timeout. That attempt for a 2 was successful as the Spartans’ ascending play was finished off by Ivey, who helped his team pick up an extra two points. After that, SJSU proceeded to pour in the points for a 7-0 run to make it a 2-point game. BSU ended SJSU’s impressive run when Hobbs knocked down a jumper to extend his team’s lead to 28-24 with 4:48 left in the half.

Despite the deficit, SJSU received some much-needed assistance from Barry, who shot a layup and a lone free throw to make it a 1-point game. BSU responded with a 3 by Pat Dembley, but a brand-new response turned out to be easy as 1-2-3 as Ivey was fouled from beyond the arc and somehow made all three shots at the free throw line to make it a 1-point game again.

As the clock winded down, Hobbs hit two consecutive 3s, while Ivey made a pair of free throws. But the late efforts weren’t enough for SJSU, who trailed Boise State 37-34 at the half. The Spartans sulked on their way to the locker room, but remembered that a second half comeback was possible as they trailed by only three points.

The Spartans’ shooting went cold for quite a while in the second half. Meanwhile, the Broncos heated up at the right time, which wasn’t good news for the Spartans, who had hoped to mount a comeback to pull off the upset. Hobbs, Zach Haney and Justinian Jessup all recorded double-digit points in the half.

If there was a silver lining for the Spartans, it was the freshman guard Kaison Hammonds, who wowed the home crowd with a 3 to put three points on the board to reduce the deficit to 17, 58-41, at the 13:47 mark of the half.

Sure, SJSU’s chances of tying the score to force overtime were dim, but Zach Chappell gave the crowd something to cheer about as he had a steal and a 2 for the layup on a fastbreak. Yet, SJSU trailed 73-51 with 6:54 left in the half.

 

 

Chappell continued to work wonders as he made a pair of free throws on a fastbreak with 2:58 left in the half. Yet, SJSU trailed 83-55 at the final media timeout of the game, so the last few minutes were pointless on the Spartans’ end of the court. SJSU lost to BSU 87-64.

SJSU’s record fell to 3-12, 0-3 MW, while BSU’s record increased to 8-8, 3-0 MW.

SJSU welcomes the Utah State Aggies on Wednesday, January 16 at 7:00 pm PT.

Warriors roll over the Bulls 146-109

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By: Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, for the second game in a row, routed their opponent, the Chicago Bulls Friday night at Oracle Arena, The Warriors got off to a fast start behind three 3-point shots by Klay Thompson to take an early 9-0 lead. The Warriors never looked back as they overwhelmed the Bulls by a score of 146-109.

The Warriors outscored the Bulls 43-17 in the first quarter. The Warriors moved the ball well all night. They found the open man and knocked down 3s. They played defense as the limited the Bulls to 17 points in the first 12 minutes of action. They even had a bit of luck when Jonas Jerebko sank a 3-pointer from behind the half-court line as time expired in the quarter. The Bulls played better in the second quarter, but still trailed by 21 at the end of the first half 76-55. Thompson led the Dubs with 24. Klay made six 3s in 8 attempts. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry each had 13. Zach Lavine led the Bulls with 24, and he made three 3s.

The Warriors did not let up in the third quarter. The Warriors’ big three of Durant, Thompson, and Curry continued to punish the Bulls. The Warriors put the game out of reach as they outscored the Bulls 40-21 in the third quarter. Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr removed all the starters with about two minutes left in the period. The Warriors led by 40 points, 116-76

Warriors’ bench players Jordan Bell, Marcus Derrickson, Jonas Jerebko, and Quinn Cook played the entire fourth quarter. The second unit played well as they were able to put up points on the board and the Warriors won by a final score of 146-109.

Game Notes and Stats: Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 30 points. He made seven 3-pointers. Curry had 28 with five 3s, and Kevin Durant had 22. It was the ninth time this season that the Big Three had more than 20-plus points in a game. Quinn Cook had 15, Jordan Bell had 13, Marcus Derrickson had 10, and Jerebko had 8.

The Bulls were led by Zach LaVine’s 29 points. Bobby Portis had 16 points, Antonio Blakeney had 12 points and Ryan Arcidiacono had 10 points. The Bulls’ Lauri Markkanen, who is seven-foot tall, finished the night with 8 points.

The Warriors improved to 28-14, while Chicago dropped to 10-32.

The Warriors announced that DeMarcus Cousins, who is recovering from an Achilles heel rupture suffered last January, will return to action against the Los Angeles Clippers on January 18th in Los Angeles.

Up Next: The Warriors hit the road to play the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas on Sunday. Game time is at 4:00 pm.

Reign finally take down Barracuda with 3-1 win

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — All good things must come to an end. For the San Jose Barracuda, they are no longer undefeated against the Ontario Reign this season, thanks to Ontario taking advantage of a mistake by a young goaltender in a 3-1 victory on Friday evening at SAP Center.

Brett Sutter received a gift from Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (13-3-1) when Korenar attempted a back-handed pass behind his own net to the corner that was intercepted by Sutter. Sutter skated around the net, where his initial backhander hit the outside of the net, but he was able to grab his own rebound and put it into the back of the net for his ninth goal of the season in what proved to be the game-winning goal with just under two minutes left in the game at the 18:22 mark of the third period.

“You know it’s funny, I think that was their (Ontario’s) only chance in the third (period),” said Cuda head coach Roy Sommer after the game. “Our goalie learned a lesson (tonight). You can’t reverse a puck if you don’t know where the forecheck is coming from. He won’t do it again I’m sure.”

The first period was scoreless as the Cuda outshot the Reign 11-9. The best scoring chances for both teams didn’t come until the final few minutes. Dylan Gambrell had a redirect chance just trickle to the right of the net with under three minutes remaining for San Jose. While Zack Mitchell’s buzzer beating one-timer hit the outside of the net for Ontario.

Ontario (11-17-3-2) drew first blood on the power play to start the second period. Matt Roy fed a cross-ice pass over to Matt Moulson on the left-wing and snapped home a wrist shot past Korenar top-shelf in the left corner for his 10th goal of the season at the 0:57 mark.

San Jose (21-8-1-3) evened the game up on the power play with a little over five minutes left in the middle frame. Nick DeSimone sent a pass over to the Rourke Chartier, who was back playing his first game with the Cuda since December 27th of last year, along the right boards. Chartier danced with the puck and from a tough angle snapped a beauty of a wrist shot top-shelf past Reign goalie Cal Petersen (3-6-3) for his third goal of the season at the 14:54 mark. Gambrell received the secondary assist.

“They kind gave some time on the half wall,’ said Chartier, regarding his goal. “I was looking for a pass first, but nothing really opened up and (I was) lucky enough that it goes in.”

The Barracuda out shot the Reign 13-7 in the second period and were able to kill off a late penalty to Jeffery Viel for tripping to head into the second intermission with momentum on their side.

“I liked our effort tonight,” said Cuda captain John McCarthy. “It was a tight defensive game where anything could have happened and it did.”

Moulson put the game on ice with an empty net with 69 seconds remaining for his second goal of the night and 11th on the season. Micheal Amadio and Sam Herr received assists on the goal.

Petersen had a busy night as he made 37 saves on 38 shots to earn his third victory of the season. Korenar finished the evening with 23 saves on 25 pucks he faced.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. Ontario was 1/3.

McCarthy played in his 500th AHL game with the Sharks organization. He is the Barracuda’s all-time leader in games played (222), points (118), goals (52) and assists (66).

Defenseman Jacob Middleton was back in the line up since being sent back down by the San Jose Sharks.

Fight Fight Fight! San Jose’s Jon Martin tangoed with the Reign’s Chaz Reddekopp half way through the second period. Each received offsetting fighting majors.

The announced attendance was 3,141.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Stockton Heat on Sunday, January 13 at 3:00 pm at SAP Center.

Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey Friedman: With Arizona’s developed offense, Stanford got outpaced

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On the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey:

#1 The Arizona Wildcats (12-4) have really stepped up their offensive game and it helped in their 75-70 win against the Stanford Cardinal (7-8) on Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion.

#2 KZ Okpala topped Stanford scorers with 29 points and Deajon Davis had 15 points.

#3 Brandon Randolph had 17 points, topping five Wildcat scorers on Wed in double figures.

#4 The Cardinal are struggling with the Pac-12 at 0-3. In early conference play, it can get late early.

#5 Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said the team is going to improve and get better.

Joey does the Stanford podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Friday

Part 1 of the Earthquakes’ picks in 2019 MLS SuperDraft

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: Ana Kieu

Friday marked the first day of the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, which was the 20th SuperDraft held by the Major Soccer League (MLS). The exciting festivities took place in Chicago, Illinois, and for Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda, this was his first SuperDraft.

The introduction of brand-new soccer stars of the future went underway and the Quakes selected three players using three picks in the opening rounds of the SuperDraft. The Quakes went 4-15-8 this past season and finished in 12th place in the Western Conference, so it wasn’t a surprise they got things started from the get-go.

In the first round, San Jose selected midfielder Siad Haji with the second overall pack. Haji was a VCU standout in Richmond, Virginia.

In the second round, San Jose selected another midfielder, Sergio Rivas, with the 26th overall pick. Rivas played college soccer at Seattle University in Seattle.

Also, in the second round, San Jose selected forward Mamadi Camara with the 46th overall pick. Camara last played for Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.

According to theScore via MLS, the third and fourth rounds of the SuperDraft will be conducted through a conference call at 10:00 am PT.

San Jose State back home to host Boise State Saturday afternoon

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball is set to host Boise State for a Mountain West clash on Saturday afternoon. Justin Allegri will have the Spartans call for KLIV 1590 AM and fans can watch the game on the Mountain West Network.

Game No. 15
Boise State (7-8, 2-0) at San José State (3-11, 0-2)
Saturday, January 12, 12:00 pm PT
Event Center (5,000)
San Jose, Calif.

Live Stats
Fans can view live stats of all SJSU men’s basketball games, home and away, by accessing the “Live Stats” feature at www.sjsuspartans.com. Click on the link on the men’s basketball schedule page to follow the action.

What Would a Win Mean?
The Spartans are looking for their fourth win on the season and their first in conference play since February 28, 2018 against Utah State. SJSU will also look to win their fourth game of the series with Boise State.

Steady Steadman
JUCO transfer Michael Steadman has made a big impact this season as a leader on and off the court. The 6’10 forward is averaging a team-high 13.4 points per game and ranks second in the Mountain West with 9.4 rebounds per game. On the national scale, the big man ranks 30th in the country in rebounds per game and 26th in defensive rebounds per game. He has six double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and 23rd nationally and has scored in double figures in 12-of-13 games, including 11 straight. He also has eight games with double-digit rebounds.

Staff Shakeup 
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau made some changes to his staff in the offseason as he brought in former NC State All-American Julius Hodge as an assistant coach and promoted director of operations Ryan Cooper to assistant coach.

Oh My, Oumar! 
Senior center Oumar Barry is playing his best basketball as a Spartan as of late. Against Bethune-Cookman, he finished with a then-career-high 13 points and seven rebounds. He followed that up with his most dominating performance at SJSU as he recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his first-career game with double digit rebounds. He also blocked two shots and was 7-of-10 at the free throw line to help the Spartans to a victory.

Barry followed up with another double-double against Stanford (15 points, 10 rebounds). After playing 38 career games without recording a double-double, he now has two in the last four games.

Barry has then scored a career-high 18 points before fouling out with 4:36 to play at Cal and led the team with 11 points at Saint Mary’s. In his last five games, he is averaging 11.4 points per game.

The Baumann Factor
Sophomore Noah Baumann is shooting lights out from beyond the arc this season. So good in fact that his 52.4% clip ranks second in the MW. He is also averaging 2.4 3’s per game, which ranks in the top 10 in the MW. He has hit at least one 3-point bucket in 12-straight games.

Series History with Boise State
Boise State holds a 31-3 lead in the all-time series. The Spartans’ three wins all came at home: February 2, 2002 (62-51), January 14, 2010 (76-74) and March 5, 2016 (68-63).

Boise State currently leads the MW with a 2-0 record in league play and are 7-8 overall. The Broncos began conference play with wins at Wyoming (69-55) and vs. San Diego State (88-64). Three players are averaging more than 10 points per game led by RJ Williams (13.3). The Broncos are led by head coach Leon Rice, who’s in his ninth season.

NHL podcast with Joe Lami: Backstrom scores game-winner for Caps; Sharks rally in 39 seconds to win; Preds’ Panarin scores three goals for win

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On the NHL podcast with Joe Lami:

#1 Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals scored the game-winning goal to defeat the Boston Bruins 4-2 in Boston Thursday night.

#2 San Jose Sharks got two goals in 39 seconds after Sharks were down 2-1 in the third period. Brett Burns and Joonas Donskoi scored the two goals.

#3 The Nashville Predators’ Artemi Panarin scored two goals and an overtime goal to help Nashville beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3.

#4 The Tampa Lightning’s Brayden Point scored the game-winning goal with 3:15 left in the and got an empty-netter to help Tampa Bay with a 3-1 win.

#5 Crosstown win for the New York Islanders’ Josh Bailey, who scored with 1:26 left as the Isles defeated the New York Rangers 4-3.

Catch the NHL podcast with Joe each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com