Saint Mary’s holds on after Runnin’ Utes’ second-half comeback fails

SALT LAKE CITY — If anything could go wrong, Utah found a way to make it happen in the first half of basketball.

The Runnin’ Utes lacked physicality, were out of rhythm, couldn’t finish to the rim and were just plain inconsistent on the court in all aspects of the game. Utah shot 24% from the floor in the first half and ended the half on a 4:20 losing streak.

The whole thing led to a 17-point halftime deficit that left little room for error in the final 20 minutes of the game.

But the combination of Caleb Lohner, who got his first minutes as a member of the Runnin’ Utes on Saturday, and Gabe Madsen proved successful as the two helped erase a 21-point deficit and give the Gaels a 4:04 lead to reduce the score to 2 before the end.

Saint Mary’s didn’t shy away, however, hitting a 3-pointer the other way (and several other game-saving shots down the stretch), and the Gaels defeated Utah 72-63.

Madsen finished the game with a team-high 15 points, making three 3-pointers, and Lohner contributed eight points and five rebounds in the loss. More importantly, Lohner provided a physical style of play that was generally missing in the first half.

After Madsen called a third foul midway through the second half – a play that had the Huntsman Center crowd cheering the referees – the sharpshooter hit a three-pointer on the other end and then drained another basket to cap an 11-0 win. run (16:3 run over almost four minutes) and made it an 8-point game.

From there, Utah (6-2) slowly inched toward Saint Mary’s lead, but didn’t get closer than a 2-point game before the Gaels (9-1) fought back and prevented a complete comeback.

The Gaels were led in scoring by Paulius Murauskas, who scored 29 points on 10 of 15 shooting, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range, in the win. Augustas Marciulionis added 10 points, three rebounds and eight assists.

This story will be updated.