‘No Show’: Saint Mary’s holds on after Runnin’ Utes’ second-half comeback fails

SALT LAKE CITY – In the words of veteran sharpshooter Gabe Madsen, Utah men’s basketball was a “no-show” in the first half of Saturday night’s game against Saint Mary’s.

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.

For all the fight Utah showed in the second half to pull off a comeback, it wasn’t enough as Saint Mary’s finished the game with six of its final seven shots to secure the win.

“Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day we showed some fight, but… just against a team that good, you can’t be a no-show for half a season; and at the end of the day, “That’s what bit us in the butt,” Madsen said. “But we showed a lot of fight and it was a fun environment, but we came up just short.”

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 – who only completed two training sessions before his first game – displayed a physical style of play that was generally missing in the first half.

“He really impacted this game; that was obvious,” Utah head coach Craig Smith said.

And even though Lohner isn’t quite in basketball shape after one season with the football team, Smith said he trusts Lohner in the rotation because he’s contributed to the team’s fight to get back in the game. Smith said he shortened the team’s rotation to “avoid losing some players.”

“We just had so many crazy mistakes, especially in the first half, on both sides of the ball, but I was proud of how we corrected ourselves,” he said. “I thought we obviously played with more energy in the second half. We made some adjustments just before halftime and that really helped us in the second half. I thought we found out some things about our team.”

“When you’re out there, you can’t have the loser’s limp.”

Saint Mary came out in the second half and built a game-high 21-point lead before Utah produced a spark on offense to eventually cut the Gaels’ lead and make the game closer.

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.

“We’re not just going to sit there and accept what happened in the first half,” said Miro Little, who finished the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. “We will fight no matter what the situation is.”

There was a better fight, but the first half “no show” ultimately doomed the team in a game that could have helped Utah’s recovery against what was considered a Quad 1 opponent. Utah will get multiple Quad 1 opportunities in Big 12 play, but a win in non-conference would have been a major boon for the Utes, who are looking to return to the NCAA Tournament.

“Tonight was probably a Quad 1 opportunity and we didn’t take advantage of it,” Smith said.

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.