Utes end regular season by downing SDSU

A near-capacity crowd came out to the Huntsman Center Saturday afternoon to honor Utah's two seniors, er, one senior and a sophomore who will be playing in the NBA next year.

After getting standing ovations from the Ute faithful before the game, Marc Jackson and Andrew Bogut promptly went out and led the Utes to a 72-60 victory over San Diego State, and earned another standing O when they went off the floor for the final time with 53 seconds left.

The pair did their parts in upping Utah's overall record to 25-4 and league mark to 13-1 in the Utes' final regular-season game as Bogut scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, while Jackson scored 10 points and passed out seven assists.

Yet without the play of sophomore forward Justin Hawkins, the Utes might have been heading to this week's Mountain West Conference tournament with an embarrassing defeat to a team that had lost five straight games and was playing without its best player Saturday.

The Aztecs (10-17, 4-10) hung with the Utes until midway through the second half before the Utes finally pulled away. Hawkins was a big reason why as he scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end.

"Justin Hawkins is a guy who has really stepped up his game up the last couple of weeks and really made a difference for us on the floor," said Ute coach Ray Giacoletti. "He really feels comfortable now and is really into a rhythm."

Hawkins battled injuries early in the season, particularly a back injury that didn't allow him to play with the same aggressiveness as his freshman season. But now he's finally healthy and has gotten his confidence back.

"I've been working real hard on my game every day so I can play with more confidence," Hawkins said. "Being hurt for part of the season kind of slowed me down, but now my back is close to 100 percent and I'm in good shape."

Though he is just 6-foot-5, Hawkins' strong inside play of late has helped take some pressure off Bogut. Most of his baskets come at close range and often on put-backs, but he's also added the mid-range jumper of which he sank a couple on Saturday.

"He's come in and worked hard on shooting the basketball and I think that's made a difference," said Giacoletti.