Second-Half Rally Falls Short for Men's Basketball vs. St. Mary's

Saturday, December 7

Salt Lake City, UT

5:00 PM

University of Utah

6-2,0-0Big 12

St. Mary's

9-1,0-0WCC

Saint Mary's (CA)

Utah

Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics

Second-Half Rally Falls Short for Men's Basketball vs. St. Mary's

12/7/2024 9:02 PM | Men's Basketball

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Miro Little recorded his first-career double-double on Saturday with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

SALT LAKE CITY – A first-half shooting slump in the first-half was too much to overcome for the Utah men's basketball team Saturday evening inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center as it fell to #RV/RV St. Mary's 71-63 despite a second-half rally.

Utah had a tough time finding its rhythm on the offensive end in the first half, shooting just 23.5-percent from the floor and managed to knock down just eight field-goals. The Utes kept it close early on, trailing 14-10 at the 14:20 media break before St. Mary's broke it open with a 15-4 run to lead 29-14 at the 7:46 mark.

Utah (6-2) looked to have some life with a quick 6-0 spurt but would go cold once again on the floor, hitting just 1-of-13 from field in the final 6:23 minutes of the first frame to trail 39-22.

Caleb Lohner got the crowd up on their feet when his former Baylor teammate Miro Little lobbed him a two-handed jam at the 15:18 mark. Utah's run continued with Gabe Madsen knocking down a 3-pointer and followed up a steal and bucket to bring the Runnin' Utes within 49-41 with 13:55 left to play.

Madsen followed up with long jumper in the far corner to make it 49-43 before an 8-2 run ensued for the Runnin' Utes when Lohner sandwiched four points from Little at the free-throw line brough Utah within 57-55 – the closest it got the remaining 4:05 minutes of action.

Utah got within three of St. Mary's (9-1) for a couple possessions, but Paulius Murauskas – who had a game-high 29 points – kept the Utes within arms distance with seven of the Gaels' final nine points to hand Utah's its first loss at home in 11 games dating back to last season.

Madsen finished with a team-high 15 points while Little recorded his first-career double-double scoring 14 points on 10 rebounds with 6 assists – including a 6-for-6 effort from the line. Mason Madsen also chipped in with 10 points off the bench. Lohner finished with

POSTGAME NOTES

With his three triples on Saturday, Gabe Madsen moves to No. 2 on the all-time 3-pointers record list and passes Johnnie Bryant (245; 2005-08) and now has 247 career made 3-pointers
Gabe Madsen jumps three spots to No. 31 on the all-time scoring list on Saturday to tie George Fisher (1,134; 1963-66), after scoring 15 points for Utah on Saturday
Saturday was just the second time Utah has lost to St. Mary's at home and the fourth time overall (16-4)
Caleb Lohner made his Utah men's basketball debut out of the 14:20 media timeout
Lohner's first-career basket and points as a Ute came at the 15:18 mark in the second half when he slammed down a lob from Miro Little 8 points, 5 rebounds and a steal while shooting 4-for-9 from the floor in his debut for the Utes
All 8 points for Lohner came in the second half

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