Fort Collins, Colo. » With David Foster and both Kim Tillie out Saturday with sprained ankles and veterans Luka Drca and Carlon Brown struggling, the Utes used some of their most unconventional lineups yet against the CSU Rams on Saturday.

The lineups didn't work enough for a victory, with the Rams taking a 76-67 win at Moby Arena in front of 3,832, but they did give Utah coach Jim Boylen some encouragement.

Redshirt freshman Jason Washburn was given just his second start of his career for the Utes and finished with 10 points, five rebounds, a career-high three steals and a block in 24 minutes.

His only other start this year was in December at Pepperdine where he finished with eight points and six rebounds in 31 minutes in the Utes' 76-64 loss.

Saturday's game was the first time he reached double figures since scoring 20 against Idaho in the season opener.

"I thought he was great," Boylen said. "He is getting some poise in the post and catching it deeper. He caught it deeper and took his time. This is the third week of practice in a row he's had and he hasn't had that all year."

Guard Tre Smith played in his fourth game of the season, four points and a rebound in 14 minutes and Chris Hines played 27 minutes, finishing with a career-high 12 points and two rebounds.

"I thought we got a lot from a lot of guys," Boylen said. "Tre Smith gave us a spark and Jay Watkins had one of his better games in a while Marshall [Henderson] snapped out of his funk a little bit. I was proud of him and Washburn is the future. We had a lot of young guys out there at the same time. I thought it was great in that regard."

At times the Utes went guard heavy, playing four along side the quicker forward Watkins.

"Our game plan was to be small a lot," Boylen said. "We thought we could guard small. [ Pierce Hornung ], [ Travis Busch ], those aren't big guys. We lost the rebounding game by four [32-28] but the offensive rebound game was even [10-10]."

Briefly » Henderson, who was 4-for-10 and 1-for-5 from three-point distance, tied Shaun Green for the tenth most three-pointers in a single season by any player at Utah with 64. He also tied the record for most three-pointers made by a freshman in MWC games (35). ... Boylen said he is unsure whether Tillie or Foster will heal in time to play in the MWC Tournament.