The heated battle for No. 10 in the Pac-12 will reach a pinnacle tonight when the Runnin’ Utes take on the Oregon State Beavers at the Huntsman Center.
OSU and Utah have long been out of the conversation of which team will head into next week’s conference tournament as the top team in the Pac-12, but tonight’s game has seeding implications nonetheless.
With both teams holding 3-13 conference records and two regular season games remaining, the winner of tonight’s contest will have a leg up on earning the No. 10 seed while the loser will have to battle to not finish in the Pac-12 cellar.
For Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak, finishing No. 10 is important, as it would be a tangible sign of improvement over last year. The Utes finished No. 11 in the conference in 2012.
“I think building a program is about improvement,” Krystkowiak said. “I think we’re considerably better than we were a year ago, [but] I think the league is considerably better than it was a year ago. I don’t want to end up in the same slot that we were a year ago. It would be nice if we could move up the ladder, even if it’s one notch.”
For Jason Washburn, not finishing No. 10 in the conference would be frustrating, as he also feels as though this year’s team is better than last season.
“You come to the end of the season and last year we kind of knew we’d be here,” he said. “That didn’t help our mood any but we knew we’d be here. This year, we kind of thought we’d be somewhere else, in a different position. It kind of grinds on you a little bit more.”
In order to be in the driver’s seat for the No. 10 spot, Utah will have to beat an Oregon State team that it lost to by 18 on Feb. 6. In that contest, Beaver guard Roberto Nelson was on fire, as he scored 26 points. Nelson is averaging a team-best 17.8 points per game and is coming off a season-high, 31-point performance against Oregon a week ago.
While Nelson is Oregon State’s leading scorer, its most complete player is Joe Burton, a big man who Krystkowiak and Washburn feel is the best passer in the Pac-12. Burton scored 17 points against the Utes in February, dished 10 assists and hauled in seven rebounds.
“Burton’s a tough matchup,” Washburn said. “He’s a guy that plays at his own pace and with his own agenda. I don’t know of any guards that make passes that he does. It’s crazy because he’s a big man. You gotta give him his respect. He doesn’t back down from any taller players. He doesn’t back down from anybody. He takes it right at ’em, and we’re gonna try to take it at him.”
Though the two teams have identical conference records, Washburn feels as though the Utes underperformed in Corvallis, and he’s looking forward to redemption.
“We played so horrible against them up at Oregon State,” Washburn said. “If we put a good game together we can compete with anyone so we’re gonna try to put one of our better games together.”
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will air on ESPNU.