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SALT LAKE CITY — In the words of veteran sharpshooter Gabe Madsen, Utah men's basketball was a "no show" for the first half of play Saturday night against Saint Mary's.
The Runnin' Utes lacked physicality, were out of rhythm, couldn't finish at the rim, and were just generally inconsistent on the court in all facets of the game. Utah shot 24% from the floor in the first half and ended the half on a 4:20 scoring drought.
It all amounted to a 17-point halftime deficit that left little room for error in the final 20 minutes of action.
But the combo of Caleb Lohner, who got his first minutes as a member of the Runnin' Utes Saturday, and Gabe Madsen proved fruitful as the two helped erase a 21-point deficit to cut the Gaels' lead to 2 with 4:04 left to play.
Saint Mary's didn't flinch, though, and hit a 3-pointer the other way (and several other game-saving shots down the stretch), and the Gaels went on to beat Utah 72-63.
For all the fight that Utah showed in the second half to make a comeback, it wasn't enough as Saint Mary's closed out the game making six of their last seven shots to secure the win.
"Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, we showed some fight, but ... just against a good team like that, you can't be a no show for a half; 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 was a fun environment, but just came up short."
Madsen finished with a team-high 15 points, with three made 3-pointers, and Lohner added 8 points and five rebounds in the loss. More importantly, though, Lohner — who had only two practices before his first game — provided a physical style of play that was generally missing in the first half.
"He really impacted this game; it was obvious," Utah head coach Craig Smith said.
And though Lohner is not quite in basketball shape yet after a season with the football team, Smith said he trusted Lohner in the rotation because he added to the team's fight to get back into the game. Smith said he shortened the team's rotation as a way to "eliminate losing with some guys."
"We just had, especially the first half, we just had so many crazy mistakes on both sides of the ball, but I was proud of how we self-corrected," he said. "I thought we played more spirted, obviously, in the second half. We made some adjustments right before the half, and certainly in the second half that really helped us. I thought we found out some things about our team.
"You can't have the loser's limp when you're out there."
Saint Mary came out in the second half and built up a game-high 21-point lead before Utah caught a spark on offense to eventually cut into the Gaels' lead and make it a closer game.
After Madsen was called for a third foul midway through the second half — a play that left the crowd in the Huntsman Center chanting at the refs — the sharpshooter hit a 3-pointer on the other end, and then followed it up with another bucket to cap off an 11-0 run (16-3 run over nearly four minutes) to make it an 8-point game.
From there, Utah (6-2) slowly cut into Saint Mary's lead, but got no closer than a 2-point game before the Gaels (9-1) fought back to stave off a complete comeback.
"We're not just gonna sit there and just be accepting of what happened in the first half," said Miro Little, who finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. "We're gonna fight, no matter what the situation is."
There was a better fight, but that first half "no show" ultimately doomed the team in a game that could have helped Utah's resume against an opponent considered as a Quad 1 opponent. Utah will get several Quad 1 opportunities in Big 12 play, but securing a win in the nonconference would have been a big boon for the Utes looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament.
"Tonight was probably a Quad 1 opportunity, and we didn't take advantage," Smith said.
The Gaels were led in scoring by Paulius Murauskas, who finished with a game-high 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.
