With its leader on the bench with foul trouble down the stretch of the game, the role players on the U basketball team stepped up to lead the team to a 75-69 win against San Diego State.
Nick Jacobson scored 16 points in the first half, but was buried on the bench through several critical minutes of the second half after he picked up his fourth foul and the team was left to find another offensive threat.
“It was tough to watch because I always want to be out there, but it might have been better for me,” Jacobson said. “I am older than most of the guys on the team, so I think that I have to take a lot of the shots, but just watching them do what they did showed me that I can pass the ball off and they will get it done.”
Right after Jacobson received his fourth foul, the Ute offense got stagnant-which was expected, considering the way Jacobson had been shooting before he went to the bench.
Without Jacobson, the Aztecs went on a run and had a 65-62 lead with less than five minutes to go in the game.
“They came into the game with a lot more pressure,” U center Tim Frost said. “We saw glimpses of it in the last game, but they really came at us.”
The Aztec pressure caused the Utes to throw the ball away numerous times. Utah had 15 turnovers to the Aztecs’ seven.
All signs pointed to a Ute loss until a quick five-point spurt put the Utes ahead, including an amazing play by Jacobson.
“I was trying to pass the ball to Drisdom, but it got deflected and I got the ball back and saw the shot clock running down, so I just shot the ball and it went in,” Jacobson said.
On the next Ute possession, freshman Justin Hawkins rebounded a Ute miss and was fouled as he put the ball in the basket.
Hawkins was very productive, playing in place of freshman Andrew Bogut, since Bogut was not playing his best game.
“Andrew was frustrated and couldn’t get in a flow throughout the entire game,” U coach Kerry Rupp said. “They were also trapping with their [power forward] and we decided to put in Justin, because he can take them off the dribble.”
The three-point play gave the Utes a one-point advantage that they would never relinquish.
Hawkins finished the game with 10 points and five rebounds.
The day just kept getting worse for the Aztecs.
San Diego State’s leading scorer Aerick Sanders fouled out, finishing with 18 points and leaving his team helpless.
After a missed layup by Chris Walton, Utah put the game out of reach and advanced to the second round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament to face BYU.
“We did a good job of keeping them off the glass and were determined to not give them second chances,” Rupp said. “I thought we were prepared very well, but they really pressured us.”
Utah outrebounded the Aztecs 41-27, but did not dominate the paint as it had in the previous two games against the Aztecs this season.
Utah also got surprising and much-needed productive play out of sophomore Richard Chaney.
Chaney was the second-highest scorer for the Utes with 14 points, which was surprising, considering the slump he has been in over the past two months.
Defeating the Aztecs a third time was difficult, but the degree of difficulty rises for the Utes, as they play BYU today at 7 p.m.
The two teams split their regular-season matchups, but the Cougars have won nine-straight games and are clearly playing better basketball at this point.
The game is more imperative for Utah, since a loss may mean the Utes won’t be dancin’ next week.
BYU, however, has pretty much locked up an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
