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Utes playing for top-three seed, bye in Pac-12 tourney

Washington State forward Robert Franks, second from left, spins through the defense of Utah's Parker Van Dyke (5), Justin Bibbins (1) and David Collette (13) as he drives to the basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

  | Feb. 18, 2018, 4:27 a.m.

Pullman, Wash. • The pursuit of a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Conference remained very much in play as the Utes started Saturday night’s contest against Washington State, the final road game of the regular season for the Utes.

Utah entered the night 8-6 in conference play and in fourth place in the standings. The top four seeds in the conference at the end of the regular season will receive a bye in the tournament in Las Vegas. Arizona (11-3), UCLA (9-5) and USC (9-5) began the night ahead of the Utes, while Oregon (7-6) remained right on their heels.

However, Oregon and UCLA played each other on Saturday night, which meant one of those teams would come away with another loss. USC hosted Oregon State on Saturday night.

“It’s definitely a big deal, you want to have that first-round bye and I think as a team we have that in the back of our head, but we don’t approach it that way,” Utes junior guard Sedrick Barefield said this past week. “As competitors, we just want to go out there and win every single game.”

The three-game home stand for the Utes against UCLA, USC and Colorado to finish the season will be their first stretch of three consecutive home games since they started the regular season off with three games in Salt Lake City. The Utes have gone 10-2 at home this season with the losses coming in back-to-back games against Arizona and Arizona State.

Johnson out with injury

Utes sophomore center Jayce Johnson did not dress for Saturday night’s game due to a foot injury. His status was considered day-to-day. Johnson hadn’t missed a game since a stomach virus sidelined him for a game at UCLA on Jan. 11. Johnson has averaged 6.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game off the bench this season. His 23 blocks rank second on the team behind Tyler Rawson.

Bountiful

Former Bountiful High standout Jeff Pollard made his fourth start of the season for Washington State on Saturday night. Pollard, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, came into the night having played an average of 13.0 minutes per game primarily off the bench this season.

Record night for recruit

Naseem Gaskin, a 6-foot-3 guard from Oakland, Calif., set a school record with 44 points for Bishop O’Dowd High School in a win over Berkeley on Friday night. Gaskin signed a National Letter of Intent with the Utes in November. Gaskin’s performance helped his team clinch its division championship. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Gaskin made four 3-pointers in the first half on his way to scoring 21 by halftime. He made six 3-pointers in the game.