A Caleb Lohner sighting and other takeaways from Utah’s loss to Saint Mary’s

Utah’s most important non-conference home game was defined by a half in which the Runnin’ Utes dominated, followed by another half in which they fought their way back into the contest.

In the end, Saint Mary’s managed enough plays to hand the hard-attacking Utes a 72-63 loss Saturday night at the Huntsman Center.

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It took a half for Utah to get used to the Gaels’ style of play. Utah fell behind by as many as 18 points in the first half as it shot 23.5% from the field in the first 20 minutes. That included just two of 10 3-point attempts as the physical Gaels controlled the tempo.

While the Utes managed to get Saint Mary’s into some foul trouble, Utah didn’t help much at the free throw line, making 4 of 8 in the first half and 10 of 17 in the game.

However, with an 18-3 run to start the second half, the Utes finally fought their way back into the game and achieved a shooting percentage of 53.3% in the final 20 minutes.

Gabe Madsen led the team with 15 points, while Miro Little added 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

The Gaels never relinquished the lead, however, and were led by Paulius Murauskas, who scored a game-high 29 points and seven rebounds while hitting 6 of 10 3-pointers.

He scored three big hits late in the game, two of them after the Utes had gained a possession on each.

It was a struggle to finish on the edge. The Utes had a hard time getting close shots to fall. They were 5 of 16 on layup or dunk attempts in the first half, compared to 1 of 8 on jump attempts.

Saint Mary’s, meanwhile, was 5 of 10 in layups in the first half.

Utah was slightly better inside in the second half, making 8 of 19 layups or dunks, but that was costly in a game where the Utes were trying to rally.

A Caleb Lohner was spotted wearing a Runnin’ Ute uniform. A week after the Utah football team concluded its season with a win at UCF, Caleb Lohner was called up to the Runnin’ Utes.

The former BYU and Baylor forward, who played tight end for Kyle Whittingham this season, is a basketball fan and was on the roster all year, although it wasn’t certain when/if he would join the program.

Lohner checked in for the first time with 14:20 left in the first half. He ended up playing 20 minutes at both the 4 and 5, scoring eight points and five rebounds despite missing all three of his free throw attempts.

What’s next?

The Utes (6-2) have a week off before hosting Radford at the Huntsman Center next Saturday, December 14th.

Game time is set for 5:00 p.m. MST. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard at 7:00 p.m.