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Denver • After its lopsided loss to Gonzaga, a count that ground to a halt at 82-59, Utah had to balm the hurt it was feeling, all as questions to answer hovered about the way it finished its season.

"It's been a tremendous group of guys that have won 27 games," Ute coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "If people knew the kind of brotherhood that I think we formed through the season and some ups and downs, the locker room was a pretty tough place."

Said senior guard Brandon Taylor: "I just feel so much. You know, I definitely feel overwhelmed, you know, because I don't think any of us pictured it [ending] like this."

Elimination is hard to take, especially for a team like Utah, which had such high hopes and was seeded third in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region.

But even as the Utes looked for balm and relief, the questions lingered:

Why so many mistakes in the final three games? Why the periods of "self-destruction," as Krystkowiak characterized them following the win over Fresno State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament? Why the inability to rise to the occasion against Oregon in the Pac-12 title game and Gonzaga in the Tournament's round of 32? What caused the Utes being on the severe-short end of the anticipated matchup between Jakob Poeltl and Domantas Sabonis? Where was the great play, so plentiful over major parts of the season, when it mattered most?

"Other than that," Taylor said, "we've had a hell of a year."

The easy answer is that the Utes were playing tougher teams.

But it seemed more complicated than that. They often played good teams in league competition, too.

Turnovers killed them against the Ducks, hampered them against Fresno, and knocked them off track in the first half against Gonzaga, the end of which found them trailing by 15 points. Fittingly, nine fumbles led to 15 points for the Bulldogs over that span, partially explaining the margin.

Moreover, Gonzaga shot a red-hot 56 percent, while the Utes hit 42 percent from the floor. They were out-boarded, 34-24.

"They just hit shots," Utah forward Kyle Kuzma said. "You know, they came out on fire. They were eight of 12 [beyond the arc] in the first half. They shot the blood out of the ball, really."

Technically, Gonzaga made a better percentage overall in the second half (62 percent) than it did in the first (51 percent). And there seemed to be little the Utes could do about it.

"I thought we were playing pretty hard at the beginning of the game," Krystkowiak said. "Then, you know, some of those mistakes we made got them fired up."

Ultimately, the coach gave credit to the Bulldogs, saying: "Gonzaga was the better team tonight. A lot of credit goes to them."

Maybe that was the one-size-fits-all answer.

After the last game of his college career, Taylor concluded: "We didn't end up making enough shots. They shot lights out tonight. It just came down to them, they got some stops and they were able to put the ball in the basket, something we weren't able to do."

Twitter: @GordonMonson