Three games in the Utah men’s basketball nonconference schedule stand out from the rest as opportunities for the Runnin’ Utes to earn statement wins — a home matchup against Saint Mary’s and neutral-site contests against Mississippi State and Iowa.

Three weeks ago, Utah lost to Mississippi State by five points after leading by 11 at halftime — and now, the Bulldogs are No. 10 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.

That leaves the Utes (6-1) with two more chances to bolster their NCAA resume before Big 12 play begins at the end of the month, and the first chance comes Saturday when Saint Mary’s visits the Huntsman Center.

“They’re very strong. They’re very physical. They’re No. 1 in the country in offensive rebounding percentage — I think they get 43% of their missed shots, which is just an absurd number,” Utah coach Craig Smith said of longtime Gaels head coach Randy Bennett’s squad.

“They eliminate losing at the highest level. They just don’t make many mistakes. … It’s always a great challenge, and we’re gonna have to play really disciplined basketball.”

Where Saint Mary’s is ranked in national metrics

By season’s end, Utah’s game against Saint Mary’s could easily be considered a Quad 1 opportunity. Right now, the Gaels are currently top 50 in each of these college basketball metrics:

What Saint Mary’s has accomplished this season

The Gaels, perennially a top team in the West Coast Conference and contender for a bid in the NCAA Tournament, are again looking strong early in the 2024-25 season.

Saint Mary’s is 8-1 on the year, with the lone loss a four-point setback to Arizona State. The Gaels have beaten USC and Nebraska and are coming off an overtime victory over UTSA.

Utah and Saint Mary’s played last year, with the Utes beating the Gaels 78-71 in Moraga, California.

The lineups have changed significantly since then for both teams, though.

How do Utah and Saint Mary’s match up?

Thanks to both graduation and transfer portal attrition, Utah has a largely new lineup this year, with shooting guard Gabe Madsen and center Lawson Lovering the returning starters.

Lovering missed Utah’s first five games with an ankle injury before returning last week, and he’s averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games.

The Utes also have power forward Ezra Ausar, wing Mike Sharavjamts and point guard Miro Little in the starting lineup, with key reserves Keanu Dawes, Jake Wahlin, Hunter Erickson and Mason Madsen.

One of the primary matchups to watch will be Lovering against 6-foot-10 Gaels center Mitchell Saxen, who is averaging 9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season while shooting 56.9% from the floor.

Last week gave a primer to what the senior Lovering could do for the Utes inside this season, as he trains under new big man coach Josh Eilert.

“I think you guys got a real glimpse of that the last game out. He played the whole second half except the last 30 seconds,” Smith said. “First of all, his confidence level is much higher. He’s a way more physical player.

“It’s not that he wasn’t physical a year ago, but I think it’s easy to see, even watching our game against Saint Mary’s from last year, how thin he was compared to how big he is now. He’s still growing into his body as a late bloomer.”

The Gaels have four players who average double-figure scoring, led by 6-foot-4 guard Augustus Marciulionas (15 points, 5.7 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game) and 6-foot-8 forward Paulius Murauskas (13.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest).

“They just don’t make many mistakes. On the defensive end, they’re in the right position over and over and over. They take away the 3 and they do a great job of protecting the rim. When you can do that, that’s hard. You’ve got to be able to make some plays,” Smith said.

“And on the offensive end, they take care of the ball. I think they’re number 341 out of 367 (nationally) in pace of play, meaning they’ll walk it up a lot. They’ll just grind you out, and it’s ball screen, ball screen, post. They’re not afraid to run the clock to the last 10 seconds and find a way to score, so you’ve got to be very disciplined. You’ve got to be able to defend for long possessions.”

How competitive will the game be?

Through seven games, Haslametrics has been accurate in predicting each Utah result — not surprising, since each of Utah’s six wins have come against opponents ranked low in metrics like the NET and KenPom rankings.

Haslametric’s analytics projected Utah would lose to Mississippi State 80.95-74.91, and the final score ended up being 78-73. For the Saint Mary’s game, Haslametrics is giving the slight edge to Utah — at 73.12 to 69.8.

In Utah’s other nonconference game of consequence — a neutral-site matchup against Iowa on Dec. 21 — the Utes are projected to win in an even smaller margin by Haslametrics, 78.31 to 78.25.

Saturday’s game tips off at 5 p.m. MST and will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard on 700 AM.

An update on Caleb Lohner

Last week, the Utah football team wrapped up its season with a 28-14 victory over UCF. That brought the end of the fall season, too, for former Baylor and BYU basketball player Caleb Lohner, a transfer who switched sports and joined Kyle Whittingham’s squad this season.

Before the basketball season started, Smith expressed optimism that Lohner may join the Utes basketball team as a walk-on. He is currently listed on the team’s roster online, though he, for obvious reasons, hasn’t been practicing with the team.

Lohner was seen after a recent Utah basketball game taking shots on the Huntsman Center floor. On Thursday, when meeting with local media, Smith said “nothing is imminent” with the possibility of Lohner joining the team.

“You know, I think there’s a possibility that something could happen, but obviously nothing set in stone as of this moment,” Utah’s coach said.

Part of that equation could include whether Lohner, whose four receptions for 54 yards this season as a tight end all went for touchdowns, chooses to pursue pro football opportunities.

If Lohner ultimately joins the Runnin’ Utes, there’s also the question of how long an acclimation period might take.

“You know, that’s a really good question. This is kind of uncharted territory. Obviously this has happened in the past, but not from my experience,” Smith said.

“I don’t know exactly how good a shape he is in. Basketball shape is different than football shape. How does that all (work)? If that time comes, I guess we’ll just have to see how he looks on the floor.”