Takeaways: Utah Learned Tough Lessons In 72-63 Loss To Saint Mary’s

SALT LAKE CITY—Utah lost to Saint Mary’s 72-63 on Saturday night. The Utes completely no-showed in the first half, which forced them to overcome a giant deficit throughout the second half.

Final score:
Utah – 63
Saint Mary's – 72

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) December 8, 2024

The Runnin’ Utes put up a tremendous fight; there’s no denying that. Saint Mary’s biggest lead in the second half was 21, and the Utes cut it to 57-55 with about four minutes left in the game but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Unfortunately, Utah has missed out on another prime opportunity for a quality win with a strong crowd in attendance. The Utes learned some difficult lessons tonight, here are some takeaways from the game.

No Show In The First Half

Just an inexplicably bad first half from Utah cost them significantly in this one. The Utes were dreadful at putting the ball in the hoop in the opening 20 minutes. They finished 8-of-34 from the field, 2-of-10 from 3-point range, and 5-of-16 on layups and dunks.

Saint Mary’s is a disciplined, tough defensive team but they are not that tough defensively.

The unfortunate lesson is that offensive struggles can’t lead to lapses on the defensive end. The Gaels enjoyed one of their best scoring halves, largely due to mistakes or unwillingness to give second and third efforts in defensive rotations.

Too many times, defensive rotations around the rim were lacking in effort, and the Gaels capitalized. Utah perimeter defenders were also caught flat-footed a few too many times and Saint Mary’s converted 4-of-11 from 3-point range.

If Utah is even marginally better in the first half, the game takes on a very different feel.

Lacking In The Details, “Winning Basketball”

The difference between the Gaels and the Utes was all in the details, particularly for Utah between the first and second half. The Gaels were so fundamentally sound on both ends of the floor.

They executed sets with crisp ball movement and finished scoring opportunities. The Gaels knew exactly where scoring opportunities would be for themselves. They defended soundly, both on and off the ball, and were in the right place at the right time.

Utah felt out of sorts, hectic, and hesitant in the first half. They struggled to create clean looks and missed a baffling amount of shots at the rim. The defensive rotations were unorganized and just lacked effort far too often.

The urgency, ball movement, and defensive rotations were much better in the second half. Utah made changes in the rotation, which resulted in a much stronger effort on both ends of the floor.

Craig Smith often talks about “eliminating losing basketball” and they seemed to do that in the second half. Unfortunately, that came at the expense of some key figures on this year’s roster.

Winning isn’t easy, especially against great competition. Players have to learn it’s going to take great effort on both ends, regardless of whether the ball goes in the hoop or not. It requires the second-half effort level for a full 40 minutes.

First Impression Of Caleb Lohner

He was one of the bigger difference-makers in this game, which is remarkable, considering he only started practicing this week.

Lohner clearly looks like he’s going to make a difference for Utah this season. He finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds, but more importantly, he provided another dynamic option for the frontcourt.

The mass he’s put on makes him a sturdy presence inside, while he still has the athleticism to play above the rim and even on the defensive perimeter.

Lohner was a big positive for Utah, and given the time he spent with winning programs, he could be key to Utah playing more “winning basketball” this season.

Utah Missed Too Many Gimme’s

Utah’s first half struggles have already been addressed. The Utes missed way too many shots around the rim. Most were strongly contested but the Utes also had a number of inexplicable misses.

Again, Utah’s struggles at the free throw line played a big role in the game. Utah finished 10-of-17 for the game and missed one or two in 1+1 opportunities.

In this sort of matchup, every single point matters; Utah cannot afford to continue missing these gimmes at the rim and the charity stripe.

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

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