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San Diego State defeats Utah, 69-61

Feb 21, 2010 - 4:24 AM SAN DIEGO(AP) -- Malcom Thomas scored 19 of his career-high 28 points in the first half and San Diego State held on for a 68-61 win over Utah on Saturday night.

San Diego State (20-7, 9-4 Mountain West Conference), which set a school mark by reaching 20 wins for the fifth straight season, swept Utah for only the second time in the series.

Carlon Brown scored 13 points to lead Utah (12-14, 5-7), which has lost five of seven.

The Aztecs won despite hitting just 9 of 16 free throws in the final 2:22, including a stretch of six consecutive misses. Thomas, a 50 percent free throw shooter, hit only 3 of 8 in the stretch.

But Thomas was sensational in the first half when he hit 8 of 9 shots, including only his second 3-pointer of the season. Freshman Kawhi Leonard had his 13th double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds.