The semi-finals panned out with all top four seeds advancing. BYU defeated TCU while UNLV beat Utah, and the two will meet up tonight. Side note: why are the games so late? I know the ladies are playing at the same arena but I would think a 10pm eastern start for the late game would work. Oh well. Now back to your original programming. This game will be huge because neither like each other as this is one of the most underrated hoops rivalry in the country and it just gets better in the tournament.
There are a lot of BYU fans who live in Vegas and who will make the six hour car drive to the Thomas and Mack. Fights go on, religious, and lifestyle taunting goes on between both. During the regular season the team split both matchups with the home team winning both. This game will be played on the floor that is home to the Rebels, so they have a built in advantage.
UNLV may want to put a guy or two (or three) on Jimmer Fredette who is a stud with deep range and can take any player of the dribble, and here is a illustration of Jimmers range. Look for UNLV to play aggressive as they did against Utah where they were up in the face of any Ute who touched the ball and sometimes fouls were called.
This semi final should live up to the hype because of the rivalry and that the teams and fans dislike each other very much. Both teams are safe for the tournament so they are just jockeying for seeding which is more important for BYU who is trying to make a push to get into the West Regional which happens to be in Salt Lake for round two.
Again do not miss this game.