Perhaps it was that the players were too tired after a double-overtime game Thursday, or too banged up from a grueling Pac-12 season, but the Washington State men’s basketball team was anemic on offense and overmatched on defense Sunday at Utah, en route to its 11th consecutive loss.

With three of their biggest contributors either hurt or non-factors, the Cougars (9-16, 1-12 Pac-12) got boat-raced by the Utes (19-7, 8-5), 88-47.

It was their biggest loss in Head Coach Ernie Kent’s two years at the helm and tied for their second worst scoring performance.

“We need to continue to get better, this program needs to continue to get better and the young guys need to continue to learn, as fast as they can, how tough this conference is,” senior forward Brett Boese said in a postgame news conference.

The Utes quickly shut down WSU’s early-game zeal by putting together an 11-0 run starting at the 12-minute mark of the first half to give them a 21-9 lead, which they parlayed into a 40-21 halftime advantage.

Sophomore forward Jakob Poeltl, a projected NBA lottery pick, highlighted the streak by leaping over the Cougar rebounders in the post after a missed 3-pointer and tipping the ball back into the hoop.

Poeltl continued to be a force in both the scoring and rebounding games, finishing the night with 25 points and 10 boards, both of which were game-highs; a nice follow-up to his somewhat disappointing 14-point, five-rebound effort on Jan. 21 in Pullman.

As good as Poeltl and the Utah frontcourt were – forwards scored all 40 of the Utes’ first half points – the story of the game was the inefficiency of the Cougars’ star players.

Junior guard Charles Callison sat out Sunday with a concussion, and junior guard Ike Iroegbu and junior forward Josh Hawkinson, who are the team’s leading scorers, did little to pick up his slack.

Both players had season-low scoring efforts, combining for just seven points.

Junior guard Que Johnson scored 13 points and for the second game in a row was the Cougars’ leading scorer. He and freshman forward Robert Franks, who took advantage of a freshman-heavy rotation by scoring 10, were bright spots for the Cougars in an otherwise atrocious performance.

“(The freshmen) got a chance to go out there and show themselves,” Hawkinson said. “I think (Franks) stepped up into his role.”

Across the board, the team looked tired as it was just three days removed from an 88-81 double-overtime loss to Colorado. Kent didn’t blame fatigue for Sunday’s blowout, but he said the nature of the previous loss weighed heavily on his team.

“We played well in Colorado – we didn’t get it done,” Kent said. “Just that mental of playing so hard in those games and not coming away with the victory, it does grind on you and it grinds on these kids in this game.”

In true Coach Kent fashion, he expressed that despite the 41-point defeat and the fact his team is now by three games the worst team in the Pac-12, the Cougars will still try to make a push for the conference tournament in March.

“It’s time for us just to get back to Pullman and close out this season,” Kent said. “Particularly for our seniors in our program, I still feel like this team has something to play for with the conference tournament.”

The Cougars will play their final home games of the season against the Northern California Pac-12 schools this week. WSU will host Stanford at 7 p.m., Thursday, and California at 5:30 p.m., Sunday. The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast the Stanford game and ESPNU will carry the California game.