With 12 games left in the regular season, the Utah Jazz are most definitely in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Their fans, in surveys, have deemed them "more exciting" to watch this season compared with recent Jazz teams with the aging dynamic duo that's no longer in Utah.

Attendance is very close to what it was last year, off just 80 people per game from what Karl Malone's and John Stockton's last team drew.

So ticket prices will remain the same next season. It's the first time in five years that the Jazz haven't raised the bar on the bar codes.

Tickets next season will cost just what they do for tonight's 7 o'clock Delta Center meeting between the 36-34 Jazz and 22-47 Washington Wizards — a game that could put Utah a step closer toward qualifying for the 2004 playoffs if it can reverse the 91-87 loss it had Dec. 16, 2003, at Washington.

They'll cost the same, that is, except for the new $40 lower-bowl ticket that will be instituted next season, $35 for season ticket-holders. These are seats that this season cost $70 and $60.

"In our research, fans have said they'd like to have the opportunity to sit in the lower bowl," said Jay Francis, Jazz senior VP for sales and marketing, in making Monday's announcement.

"The price freeze and reduced lower-bowl seats also offer us a chance to say thank you for the great support and loyalty our fans have shown the team," Jazz owner Larry H. Miller said in a statement.

The Jazz have recently kicked off their ticket-selling campaign for next season, sending out renewal packages to current season subscribers, launching some radio ads and holding Monday's news conference in the Delta Center. One reason for the start: So few tickets are left for this season's games that sales people needed something to do to make money now, said Francis.

Only about 400 tickets remained Monday night for tonight's game and about 500 for one other game. The rest are already sold, Francis said.

On a side note, playoff tickets — if needed — go on sale April 17.

Pollster Dan Jones released findings of his surveys of 966 Jazz-game patrons — samplings from three January and February games that included the Los Angeles Lakers, an Eastern Conference opponent and a mid-range unnamed opponent — that said 71 percent of those polled at games found this season's Jazz team either much more exciting (44 percent) or somewhat more exciting (27 percent) compared with Jazz teams of the last few years.

In answer to another question, 24 percent these fans said the value of Jazz tickets was "well worth the money," and another 47 percent rated the value as either a 5 (30 percent) or 6 (17 percent) on a 7-point scale with "1" being "a waste of money." One percent chose that option. The mean score on this question was 5.21.

Sixty-six percent of respondents said they were somewhat or very optimistic that the Jazz wouldreach the playoffs, and 92 percent said their experience of attending games this season ranked in the 5-6-7 area of the 1-7-point scale with 1 being very poor.

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E-mail: lham@desnews.com