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Even after reaching some new heights in the Pac-12, there's a bitter taste for coach Larry Krystkowiak — and the Utah fan base — for the sour note on which a 27-9 season ended: getting knocked out of the NCAA second round in a blowout loss to Gonzaga. It was the last of seven double-digit losses this season.

Reviewing the losses, Krystkowiak said there was "a moment of truth" in each game in which the Utes could have fought back. And they didn't always take the opportunity.

"When we lost those games, we lost bad," he said. "When we got hammered, we continued to get hammered in those games. Maybe we didn't have the toughness required."

Toughness will be an offseason focus for the Utes, one that they believe they are addressing with their additions to next year's roster. While there will be many unknowns as Utah tries to follow up two straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, the Utes aim to be more physical and scrap harder in the face of defeat.

By percentage, the experience cut will be steep: They'll look to replace 62 percent of their scoring, roughly 48 points per game. They will be without many proven 3-point shooters as Brandon Taylor, Jordan Loveridge and Dakarai Tucker graduate. They won't have a proven low-post scorer once Jakob Poeltl declares to enter the NBA Draft, as he is widely expected to do this week.

The most obvious dimension Utah will have is size: Between 7-footer Jayce Johnson, 6-foot-10 David Collette, 6-foot-10 Tyler Rawson and 6-foot-9 Makol Mawien coming off a redshirt year, next year's group will have depth in the front court that the most recent group did not. The logjam upfront is such that the coaching staff is moving Brekkott Chapman, who has struggled to add weight to his 6-foot-8 frame, to more of a wing role similar to Loveridge.

But the Utes also anticipate being a more physical team in 2017. Johnson has a less polished offensive game than Poeltl, but has shown while on the scout team that he is gritty and doesn't shy from contact. The staff liked signee Devon Daniels' toughness at wing in their summer elite camp, and guard JoJo Zamora is a former football player.

"It's definitely a tougher, more physical group," Krystkowiak said. "One of the things that concerned me even at the end of the season is we had a decent skill level, but maybe not the toughness level we needed, per se. I think this class has got a little more in it."

And while the Utes are expected to play a lot of new faces, the players coming back have a lot to offer as well. Kyle Kuzma and Lorenzo Bonam both started over 30 games last season, and they averaged double-digit scoring.

What has to change is the feast-or-famine nature to their games. On some nights, they were absolute stars putting up points. On others, they were invisible.

The returners — including Johnson, Mawien, Collette and Sedrick Barefield, who have yet to play — were back in the weight room a week removed from their final game. Kuzma said they understand that more will be expected, particularly from himself and Bonam as returning starters.

"Me and Zo, we need to really just grind and get a lot better than we were last year," he said. "Our team is going to depend on us as returners. This year, me and him are going to be ready to carry it in some ways."

While the Utes are still building a schedule, it's known that they'll play in December's Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, along with a group of opponents that includes San Diego State, Hawaii and Stephen F. Austin. Krystkowiak said the team has found an opponent to replace BYU on the schedule, and is in discussion with other schools — and may take an ESPN-scheduled game like it did last year against Duke.

But with seven months to go, questions still reign, and they likely won't start being answered until summer sessions when the whole team has arrived. The Utes may also be waiting until after the nonconference schedule for Collette and Barefield to be eligible (the NCAA is still considering a hardship waiver to allow Barefield to play at the season's start). As of early this month, often-injured junior guard Kenneth Ogbe was still mulling if he'll be able to play next year. If he's healthy, that would be a bonus for Utah's wing rotation.

But even with uncertainty, ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi picked Utah to make the NCAA Tournament field a year from now as an 11 seed. The early projection is meaningless except for one factor: Making the Big Dance is now an annual expectation for the Utes. While Krystkowiak isn't one to look that far ahead, he knows the bar is raised.

The wins, which led to Utah's No. 3 seed in the tournament and first-ever Pac-12 Tournament final, speak for themselves. The Utes enjoyed top-10 wins over Duke and Arizona, and rarely lost to an opponent they were expected to beat.

"I got a taste of what success was like there," graduating senior Taylor said. "We made our stamp in the U. of U. history books. We did a lot of things we hadn't done in the previous year. We set the bar kind of high."

Winding up his degree next month, Taylor has remained on campus and in contact with his Utah teammates, though his college career is over. He has offered them some advice.

"Keep striving for greatness," he said. "No matter what kind of success you get, always strive for more."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Looking ahead

After the team's second straight NCAA berth and best-ever finish in the Pac-12, the Utes will have to replace some of their most important players from at 27-9 season.

Key losses • C Jakob Poeltl*, F Jordan Loveridge, G Brandon Taylor, G Dakarai Tucker

Key returnees • F Kyle Kuzma, G Lorenzo Bonam, F Brekkott Chapman

Additions • G Sedrick Barefield, G Devon Daniels, F/C David Collette, C Jayce Johnson, F Tyler Rawson, G JoJo Zamora

* Expected to declare for NBA Draft —

Poeltl to reveal future plans Wednesday

Utah's Jakob Poeltl has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday, where the sophomore center is widely expected to announce he will declare himself eligible for the NBA Draft.

Poeltl, a consensus All-American, averaged 17.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in leading the Utes to a 27-9 record and a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The press conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Huntsman Center.