TCU
8-8, 1-1MWC
Utah
8-7, 1-0MWC
Frogs Drop 65-45 Conference Decision to Utah
1/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2010
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The TCU men's basketball program dropped a 65-45 Mountain West Conference decision to Utah on Saturday afternoon at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
With the setback, the Horned Frogs fell to 8-8 on the season and 1-1 in Mountain West Conference action while Utah improved to 8-7 on the 2009-10 campaign and 1-0 in conference play.
After falling behind 8-5 at the 16:19 mark in the first half, the Runnin' Utes went on a 14-0 run to take a 19-8 lead with 9:51 remaining before intermission after a lay-in by junior guard Carlon Brown.
Utah was able to build the lead to 12 points at 27-15 at the 3:30 mark following a lay-in by freshman Marshall Henderson, but the Frogs came back and out-scored the Runnin' Utes by a 9-2 margin over the final three minutes. Utah went into the locker room with a five-point advantage at 29-24 at intermission.
Nikola Cerina (Topola Oplenac, Serbia | Nikola Tesla S.S.) opened up the second frame with a three-pointer to cut the scoring deficit to two points at 29-27 with 19:23 left in the game.
However; the Frogs would never be able to overtake the lead as the Runnin' Utes proceeded to go on a 14-3 run and take a 43-30 lead following a three-pointer by Luka Drca with 13:35 left in the game.
Drca finished the game with 14 points - all coming in the second half of action - to go along with three steals and two rebounds in 32 minutes of action.
Utah was able to maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game and came away with the 65-45 victory for its first conference triumph of the season.
Keion Mitchem (Rochester, N.Y. | Rochester East H.S.) finished with a team-high 14 points while Zvonko Buljan (Split, Croatia | Vincennes University) notched eight points and nine rebounds in the game.
The Frogs will be back in action on Tuesday evening in Mountain West Conference action as TCU welcomes Wyoming to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Game time is slated for 6:30 p.m. Central Time.
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