Going into Wednesday night’s contest at TCU, Runnin’ Utes head coach Jim Boylen knew his team had to stop the Horned Frogs’ dynamic trio of Brent Hackett, Kevin Langford and Alvardo Parker.
So much for preparation.
TCU’s big three had their way with the Utes throughout the game and the result was a 67-61 loss for Utah — its third consecutive defeat.
The sharpshooting guard Hackett led all scorers on the night with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting while Langford and Parker scored 16 and 14 points, respectively.
The Utes constantly threatened the Horned Frogs’ lead late in the game, but whenever the road team needed a defensive stop, one of TCU’s big three would make a play. With 1:40 left and the Utes trailing 59-56, Parker dunked the ball to make it a two-possession game. After a free throw from Johnnie Bryant cut the TCU lead to four points with just more than a minute left, Brent Hackett stepped up with a jumper from the elbow, basically icing the game for the Horned Frogs.
Utah’s struggles on the defensive side of the ball carried over to the offense, as well. Because of intense TCU pressure, the Utes turned the ball over 16 times. Utah center Luke Nevill was responsible for four of those turnovers despite playing merely 21 minutes because of foul trouble. Lawrence Borha also had five turnovers.
Despite playing with their star center for only 4:23 in the first half, the Utes controlled the tempo initially. Shaun Green, Tyler Kepkay and Carlon Brown opened the game up with 3-pointers on consecutive Utah possessions, giving the visiting team a 9-2 lead early.
The Utes expanded their lead to 11 points later in the opening half thanks to more 3-point shots from Kepkay and Green, but they couldn’t put the pesky Horned Frogs away.
Langford banged his way to 11 first-half points and was the primary reason for Nevill’s foul trouble. Boylen said on Tuesday that Langford was a guy who “puts officials in a tough situation because there is so much contact (in) every play he makes.”
Hackett was impeccable from the field, hitting 5-of-6 in the first half and sending the Horned Frogs into the break with a crucial momentum-changing 3-pointer.
Nevill finished the game with a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds in limited action while forward Shaun Green had nine points, eight rebounds and three assists.