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After an evening of attacking the rim relentlessly, Lorenzo Bonam stayed aggressive even after the 83-82 loss to UCLA.

His final target on Saturday night? The Pac-12 preseason poll that had Utah behind seven other teams back in October.

"Eighth in the league? I'm gonna be real: That's disrespectful," he said. "They really underestimated us because we have a lot of freshmen, a lot of new bodies, a lot of new people. And they really didn't know the talent that we had. Now, they're starting to see, and they're starting to change their minds."

The Runnin' Utes (12-5, 3-2) surely won minds in a tight battle with the nation's No. 4 team. But the close loss puts the imperative on Utah to start winning games.

The Utes are 1-4 against ranked opponents this season, and have only one top-50 RPI win against a USC team that looked suspect on Thursday night and could take a tumble.

Even as the broadcasting crew on Pac-12 Networks speculated during the game that Utah may be a top-four Pac-12 team and NCAA Tournament-caliber, the path to the postseason is murkier than Utah's previous two years, and will likely run through Oregon — the program that has been Utah's Achilles' heel in the conference.

On one hand, coach Larry Krystkowiak and his staff spun together a roster that saw dramatic overhaul, added transfers mid-year and made it competitive against the one-loss Bruins. But on the other, already 0-2 against the two of the best teams in the conference, Utah is running out of chances not just to hang with the top tier, but beat those squads.

The margin was slim: Utah had an efficient night shooting, was under 10 turnovers and held UCLA to 55 effective field goal percentage (fifth-lowest of the season for the Bruins). But the minor details — containing Lonzo Ball's passing ability on the final possessions, operating effectively off inbounds plays, not corralling defensive rebounds — were the costly ones.

"The game of basketball is a game of mistakes," Krystkowiak said, "and there were plenty of opportunities along the way."

From here on out, the opportunities are fewer, and the margin for error is slimmer still.

The Utes have 13 remaining Pac-12 regular season games. Of those opponents, only No. 13 Oregon is in the RPI top 50, a controversial but nonetheless vital NCAA Tournament committee metric. The Utes will get two cracks at the Ducks, at home in the final weekend of January, then in Eugene in February. Utah has lost seven straight to Oregon, its longest active losing streak against any conference opponent.

But beyond knocking off the Ducks, the Utes will also have to avoid getting tripped up against lesser foes: Four road weekends still remain, and Utah could do a lot of damage to its postseason hopes, particularly if it falls this coming weekend against Washington State (RPI 167) or Washington (RPI 171).

Other solid wins could still be out there even if Utah can't get one against Oregon: The Utes play Cal (13-5, 4-2) twice, and the Golden Bears are in roughly the same boat. Colorado has had a rough start to conference play, but is also buoyed by its nonconference wins over Xavier and Texas — a win at Coors Events Center in February could look good if the Buffs turn their early struggles around.

While Utah may have passed the eye test as a tournament team on Saturday, then Utes have a long way to go to pass the résumé test. And it doesn't help that the Pac-12's overall profile is weak this year: The conference recorded only four nonleague top 25 wins, and most projections have the Pac-12 as a four-bid league.

Three teams, based on their starts, are assumed entrants: UCLA, Oregon and Arizona. Utah could still edge into that mix and make its third straight Big Dance. Even though the Utes have proved to many that they're good enough to play, coming close against the league's best won't be enough to push them in.

kgoon@sltrib.com Twitter: @kylegoon —

Utah at Washington State

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