Utah Holds Off Augusta St.

An aggressive Augusta State team from the Division II ranks rattled No. 20 Wednesday, but Alex Jensen knew what he had to do.

After watching from the bench with four fouls as his team's lead dwindled to six points with less than four minutes to play, the 6-foot-9 senior outscored the Jaguars 7-4 over the next two minutes to ice the game for Utah.

Jensen finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds as Utah held off Augusta State 69-56 Wednesday.

Jensen made a 3-point play on a strong move to the hoop and a foul with 3:34 left and then followed it the next possession with a driving layup. Jensen added two free throws with 1:32 to play to ice the game.

Festus Hawkins, who transferred after starting for Illinois last season, scored 13 points for Division II Augusta State (3-4) before fouling out with 7:30 to play.

Even without their big center, the Jaguars made an 8-4 run capped by an emphatic dunk by Oliver Ottley to make it 58-52 with 3:49 remaining.

That's when Jensen, who made 9 off 11 shots, took over.

"I was sitting down there and made up my mind that I needed to make something happen when I got back into the game," Jensen said.

Tony Harvey, who was relegated to a reserve role after Utah's 74-62 loss to Weber State on Wednesday, scored 10 points off the bench for the Utes and Nate Althoff added 10.

With 11:12 left in the first half, a collision between Althoff and Hawkins sent the Utes center to the locker room with a sprained back.

Majerus, who was visibly upset with the physical play, sent seldom-used walk-on Brandon Sluga to battle Hawkins. The 6-4 Sluga picked up two fouls in two minutes bumping with the 6-10, 280-pound Hawkins on every possesson.

"I thought it was a cheap shot," Majerus said. "I wanted Brandon to go in there and clock the guy back. I hate dirty basketball but retaliatory basketball is necessary. Otherwise, you become a pin cushion."

Hawkins said it was no cheap shot.

"Nothing was on purpose; I didn't even know I ran into (Althoff)," Hawkins said. "But after that it was obvious they were going after me with this little guy (Sluga)."

Althoff, who has been limited with a strained back, received treatment and returned before the end of the half.

The scrappy Jaguars hung with the Utes in the first half and trailed by just four at 24-20 after Hawkins hit back-to-back baseline jumpers. Utah's biggest lead of the half was the 33-25 margin at intermission.

The Utes, who recorded 19 assists on their 24 field goals, extended their home winning streak to 38 games.

"We didn't win the game," Augusta coach Gary Tuell said, "but we left the building with respect and that was more than I could have asked for."

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