Utah leads TCU at the half

Utah, the second-seeded team in the Mountain West Conference tournament, has a 29-26 lead over Texas Christian at the half of the third quarterfinal.
Utah opened up a quick 5-0 lead, but the Horned Frogs kept pace the rest of the way.
Tyler Kepkay scored seven points to pace the Utes,
Zvonko Buljan and Ronnie Moss each scored seven points to help keep the Horned Frogs close.

Where’s the stars?

Mountain West Conference player of the year Luke Nevill picked up two fouls within 29 seconds of each other in the opening minutes of the first half and logged just four minutes before the break.
Just a few minutes after Nevill left the game, TCU’s leading scorer Kevin Langford was also whistled for his second foul and was also relegated to the bench for most of the half.
Nevill did not attempt a shot in his limited minutes. Langford made 1 of 4 in eight minutes.
Late in the half, TCU also lost its second-leading scorer as Zvonko Buljan picked up his second foul after scoring seven points.

One positive note from UNLV’s loss

With UNLV suffering a loss in its first game of the tournament, the whining from other school around the league about the event being held in Las Vegas is likely to quiet down for now.
It really should not be played at the Thomas & Mack Center. The conference needs to figure out a way to make it work at the MGM Grand Garden or the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
There is no question, however, that it needs to be in Las Vegas—unless the San Diego Sports Arena is a suitable option. The problem there is that San Diego is nowhere close to being centrally-located geographically in the conference.
What it all comes down to is winning. The less times UNLV wins it, the less noise other programs will make about moving the tournament.
Everyone in the media center was enthralled by West Virginia’s upset of Pittsburgh on television between games.
Not one person mentioned the fact that it’s unfair to play the tournament in an arena where St. John’s plays an occasional home game.