Eugene, Ore. • What the Utes did here didn't impact their standing going into next week's Pac-12 tournament.
But nearly every other game had something to do with who they'll play once they're there.
And the winner is Colorado.
By virtue of UCLA's win over Washington and Colorado's lopsided loss at Oregon State, the Buffs fell to sixth place and will play the No. 11 Utes on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
"The two newbies in the league get to play each other," Larry Krystkowiak said after his team lost 94-48 at Oregon, the worst loss in program history.
The first matchup between the teams is seared painfully into the Utes' memory: a 40-point New Year's Eve in Boulder that was surpassed only by Utah's loss Saturday.
Entering the day, possible tournament opponents included the Buffaloes, UCLA and Stanford. The Cardinal travel to California on Sunday, but they are now locked into seventh place.
The Utes had more than a passing interest in Saturday's results — Stanford seemed to be the most favorable matchup, given the Utes' victory over the Cardinal last week — but after losing to the Ducks they didn't seem too concerned about their next and, likely, final opponent.
"I don't think it matters who we go up against," guard Chris Hines said. "I think we've played every team tough up to a certain point, every team. We just have to show up."
The Utes were much better in their second game against the Buffs, on Feb. 18. They lost 55-48, but were tied with as little as 4:14 remaining in the game.
But that less-embarrassing performance doesn't do much for the Utes going into the tournament.
"I can't say I feel any better about playing Colorado," Krystkowiak said. "I'm more comfortable with our team. They [Colorado] have got a lot of weapons, too, they lead the league in defensive field goal percentage, they're a great rebounding team, they're a great transition team."
Former Ute Carlon Brown leads the Buffaloes with 12.1 points per game, but in two games against the Utes he's scored just 15 total points and was 2 of 12 from the field in Salt Lake City.
Washburn unimpressed
Jason Washburn scored a career-high 26 points to lead all scorers against the Ducks, but for the junior center, it was a hollow achievement in a 46 point loss.
"My career highs always seem to come on nights when we get the 'L'," he said, "and who's going to remember except that we got the 'L'? Because that's all that matters."
Washburn previously scored a career-high 21 points in a 17-point loss against UNC-Asheville at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Nov. 26.
Washburn was distressed by the loss.
"I know I could have done more," Washburn said. "For everyone who says congrats on your career high. It came with a — I don't even know the number — loss. I don't even know how much we lost by. I'm not even sure I want to know the exact number."
A strike against bowling
Krystkowiak and the coaches decided against running a full practice with the Utes on Friday in Eugene. Given the quick turnaround from Thursday's loss at Oregon State and the number of players who played a lot of minutes, they opted instead to go bowling.
"We may never do that again," Krystkowiak said.
Twitter: @oramb
