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CORVALLIS, Ore. — The bottom two teams in the Pac-12 standings faced off Wednesday night, leaving the Runnin' Utes alone at the bottom in the aftermath.
Oregon State (12-11, 2-8) shot 59 percent in the second half to run away with an 82-64 victory over the Utah (10-12, 2-8).
Junior guard Roberto Nelson led all scorers with 26 points to go with five rebounds in the Beaver win. He shot 70 percent from the field and hit all nine of his free throw attempts. Senior forward Joe Burton nearly notched a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 10 assists and seven boards.
"Nelson had a good game for them offensively, and (Burton) does a nice job facilitating," Utah head coach Larry Krysktowiak told the ESPN 700 broadcast. "They have some firepower, and they put the ball in his hands and he's as good a passer as there is in the conference, point guard or otherwise."
"He's a very, very smart player," Utah senior Jarred DuBois said of Burton. "He's very deceiving with his speed."
A 10-0 OSU run turned an early 12-12 tie into a double-digit lead. The Beavers took a nine-point lead into the locker room, which later stretched to 18 points after an 8-0 run put them up 47-29 with 13:21 left in the game.
The Utes managed to pull as close as nine, 54-63, after DuBois scored eight-straight points with 4:38 remaining.
But that was as close as they would get, as the Beavers converted 12 free throws in the final two minutes to keep the game out of reach.
"When the game started, we missed five or six layups, point-blank range shots," Krystkowiak said. "When you're on the road playing a team that's hungry, it comes down to making some shots.
"We started in the triangle-and-two and did a nice job defensively, but then we went through a stretch in the middle of the first half where we just had these mindless turnovers that I couldn't put my finger on."
Freshman guard Brandon Taylor scored a career-high 21 points, hitting 6 of 11 from the floor, with six assists to lead Utah. DuBois contributed 20 points, while freshman forward Jordan Loveridge added seven points and eight boards. Loveridge came off the bench after missing last Saturday's win over Colorado due to injury.
Despite Oregon State's unimpressive record, the team boasts some impressive length and athleticism with which the Utes struggled.
Utah was outshot 45.6 percent to 35.7 and outrebounded 38-30. The Utes only turned the ball over 11 times, but it led to 15 OSU points.
"You can't afford to miss easy layups and then give away second and third chances on the other end," said DuBois.
Seniors Jason Washburn and Cedric Martin, both key contributors, struggled from the floor. They combined to go 1-for-7 for just two points in 56 minutes.
"I listened to (Oregon State coach) Craig Robinson this week and they were talking about how they had to stop Jason Washburn," Krystkowiak said. "Jason kind of took himself out of the game and wasn't as aggressive in the post."
The Utes now take the Beavers' place at last in the Pac-12 conference with eight games still to go, including a rematch between these two programs on March 7 in Salt Lake City.
But first, Utah heads to Eugene to face first-place Oregon (18-4, 7-2) on Saturday night at 6 p.m. MST. That game will air on Pac-12 Network and on the radio at 700 AM.
"Everything is about your mindset," DuBois said. "We have to come out with the mindset that every game is the biggest game of the season."
"We're five weeks or so away from the Pac-12 tournament, and I think the league has shown that on any given night you can compete with somebody," said Krystkowiak. "We've got to start doing that on the road.
"The margin for error is thin. You can't miss layups, you can't miss assignments, you can't miss free throws, you can't miss block-outs. And when you're doing enough of those things wrong over the course of the night, you're going to get beat."
Tyson Maddy has covered the University of Utah football and men's basketball teams as a contributing writer for KSL.com Sports since 2011. Follow his Utes coverage on twitter @Tyson_Maddy
