CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Misery loves company.

Perhaps Colorado, which slipped from third place in the Pac-12 to a No. 6 seed in the final 10 days of the regular season, has found the perfect match at the conference tournament in Utah.

As ugly as Saturday's 83-69 loss to Oregon State was for the Buffs, it wasn't historically bad.

While Tad Boyle and his disappointed team were dragging themselves to the bus outside Gill Coliseum, Oregon was delivering a humiliating 94-48 beating to Utah.

It was the most lopsided loss the Utes have endured in 104 years of basketball. Even worse than the 73-33 loss to CU in the Pac-12 opener on Dec. 31 at the Coors Events Center.

"We lost at Colorado like that because we rolled over and laid down," Utah's Jason Washburn told the Salt Lake Tribune. "Never really gave them a fight back, and they got us. It's kind of the same right here."

CU and 11th-seeded Utah will meet for a third time in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday at the Staples Center (9:40 p.m., Root Sports).

The winner will get a chance to redeem itself against No. 3 Oregon in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Buffs (19-11, 11-7) had a chance to earn a first-round bye but began the road trip with a 90-81 loss to the Ducks in Eugene.

CU led Oregon 41-36 at halftime before allowing the home team to shoot 61.5 percent in the second half. Boyle's team trailed Oregon State 30-27 at the intermission, but the Beavers were 18-for-26 (69.2 percent) from the field after the break.

What happened to what had been the Pac-12's best field-goal percentage defense?

"It went out the window," senior point guard Nate Tomlinson said. "We thought we were better than what we were and we didn't stick to what got us in this position so far this year."

All Boyle can do is go back to the drawing board. The second-year head coach said he needed to make the most of a couple practices back in Boulder and force his players to watch the unflattering film before heading to Los Angeles.

Offensively, CU shot 54.5 percent against Oregon and 48.2 percent against Oregon State.

In the end, defense wins championships. Even in the Pac-12.

"We're not going to hang our heads because of this game. I feel our team is a team of competitors," freshman guard Askia Booker said. "Everyone hates to lose. That locker room is pretty silent. Everybody hates this.

"I think we're going to come out pretty hard in the tournament and let guys know why we still shouldn't have been picked 11th (in the preseason poll)."

The Buffs have still exceeded the expectations many outsiders had for them after losing Alec Burks, Cory Higgins, Levi Knutson and Marcus Relphorde from last season's team.

After a disappointing road sweep in the Bay Area, CU responded with three straight wins, including a dramatic one-point victory over Arizona.

After losing to UCLA by 17 points, CU swept the Oregon schools in Boulder and won four of five games, including a 55-48 victory over the Utes in Salt Lake City, to move into third place in the standings.

After suffering its first Pac-12 home loss to Stanford, CU beat first-place Cal.

And now Boyle will challenge his team to make one final stand at the Staples Center.

"They're a very capable team and they're going to have the emotional edge on us because we beat them twice," Boyle said of Utah. "It's a new season, everyone is 0-0. As we move forward, it's not about what has happened in the past. It's about what's going to happen in L.A. when the ball goes up."