MBB: No. 9 Utah to face No. 8 Oregon State in Pac-12 Tournament opener

The Utes and Beavers split the season series 1-1, with Utah winning 81-69 at home and Oregon State winning 70-51 a few weeks ago

While Utah decided its fate on Saturday afternoon as the No. 9 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament, the Utes had to spend the rest of the day awaiting who their first round would be.

By the time the end of the day hit and the final game of the Pac-12's regular season ended, Utah (16-14, 7-11 Pac-12) had its answer. Awaiting the Utes in sunny Las Vegas would be eighth-seeded Oregon State (17-13, 7-11 Pac-12), who ended the regular season with victories over Stanford and Cal.

Utah and Oregon State will kickoff the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas next week. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. MST on Wednesday afternoon — a time that Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak couldn't be more thrilled about having.

“We play the first game, which I love,” Krystkowiak said. "So, I get to wake up, have a little breakfast, then we get to tip off, similar to today.”

The last two years saw Utah earn the No. 3 seed each time, and then play their first games of the tournament at 8:30 p.m.

“I was always that way as a player,” said Krystkowiak, said of his nerves on gameday. “Nervous as a player, nervous as a coach. I know the minute the jump ball goes up, the nerves are gone. I know that’s going to happen every time, but I still can’t talk myself off the ledge. It’s hard hanging out in Vegas."

The winner of the game will face No. 1 seed Oregon on Thursday, with tipoff set for 1 p.m. MST. The Ducks were the Pac-12 regular season champions and have player of the year candidate Payton Pritchard leading them.

Utah and Oregon State are no stranger to one another, having split the season series 1-1 with both team's winning at home. The Utes struck first with a 81-69 victory on Jan. 2 before the Beavers responded with a 70-51 win on Feb. 13.