Another strong second half bails out the Utes

Once again, the Utah basketball team came alive in the second half in its win over Air Force Saturday afternoon.
It’s becoming a habit for the Utes, to lollygag around in the first half and then come on strong in the second half. It’s happened in four of their last seven games, when they won after trailing at halftime. In another, they blew a big halftime lead against New Mexico, only to come back in final three minutes.
“We’re a good second-half team, but we shouldn’t rely on that,” said Luke Nevill. “Sometimes we struggle getting started and today was one of those days where everybody wasn’t playing to their potential.”
When asked if he’s worried that the slow starts are going to catch up with his team sooner or later, coach Jim Boylen replied, “Yeah, but we’re playing in a good league against good teams. You don’t want to be there, but it happens. I’ve got too much respect for the league to think every game we should be up at the half. Now do I want to be? Absolutely. But we’ve got a good league and you’ve got to play every night, every minute.”
It’s working, so as long as the Utes don’t fall behind by more than a half-dozen points or so, they should be OK with their mediocre first halves. But one of these days in a big game, a poor first half may be too much for even the Utes to overcome.