Portland, Ore. • The Runnin' Utes never expected to be hovering above .500 and on a three-game losing streak with one game to go before conference play starts, but here they are.

Today's game against Portland is their last chance to tune up before Mountain West Conference play starts Wednesday at Air Force.

After Utah went 0-for-3 in the Diamond Head Classic, one could assume the Utes have too much to fix and not enough time before league play begins.

However, the Utes maintain they haven't given up on themselves or the season yet and are just a few tweaks here and there from being the team they imagine themselves being this year.

"We're disappointed with Hawaii, no doubt about that, but we're not discouraged," center Jason Washburn said. "We played hard in stretches, but we have to fix our turnovers, have to score better and rebound better. We have to fix all that, but we don't have time to hang our heads. There is no time to worry about it."

While it might be tempting to hit the big red panic button and scrap everything the Utes are experimenting with this year, coach Jim Boylen said he is far from that place.

"You lose three games in four days and you have a tendency to feel that way," he said. "But when I go back and look at it, like I have the last couple of days, you see the opportunities were there. We just didn't take advantage of them."

The Utes never broke the 40 percent shooting mark in any of the losses, going 62 of 167 combined, which included a dismal 9-of-53 effort from 3-point distance. The Utes also averaged 15.7 turnovers and just 35 rebounds.

All of those areas can be improved in a matter of a game, the Utes say.

"It's a learning process for us and we have to learn from our mistakes," Will Clyburn said. "We have to come out and make our shots and defend better. We have a lot of talent, but we are still learning to play as a group and we'll keep working."

The Utes knew they were going to be in a rebuilding year with all the changes in personnel from a year ago. While their record is disappointing, the Utes remain convinced they are on the right track.

lwodraska@sltrib.com