Poeltl lifts Utah to first NCAA tournament victory in decade

(Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)


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PORTLAND, Oregon — It was the first NCAA tournament appearance in six years for the Runnin’ Utes, but Utah made the most of it and managed to claim a postseason victory for the first time in a decade.

The win, as any game in the NCAA tournament, was not an easy one to come by, as a scrappy Stephen F. Austin team battled until the final buzzer sounded.

“I think of the 68 teams that started the NCAA tournament, you’d be hard-pressed to find any of those teams that was as demanding when it came to a preparation,” Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said.

Freshman center Jakob Poeltl lead the charge for the Utes, scoring 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting, eight rebounds and five blocks. Most importantly for Utah, Poeltl was able to stay on the floor for the duration of the game without getting into foul trouble. He ended the game with only two fouls.

“I just tried to be aggressive, like build up walls, not try to hack my opponent and get dumb fouls,” Poeltl said.

“He’s been an anchor for us when we can keep him out of foul trouble. I thought he had the right mindset,” Krystkowiak said. “I thought he was really sound in keeping people in front of him. At the rim he didn’t come down and hack guys.”

In the final few games of the regular season, as well as the Pac-12 tournament, Poeltl got himself in foul trouble and was forced to sit the bench for much of the games. As a result, the Utes felt the impact by not having one of their best assets and bigs on the floor.


He's been an anchor for us when we can keep him out of foul trouble. I thought he had the right mindset. I thought he was really sound in keeping people in front of him. At the rim he didn't come down and hack guys.

–Larry Krystkowiak


“He’s been a key to our success and part of the reason that we’ve struggled in the last eight games when we can’t keep him on the floor,” Krystkowiak said. “You lose a key component and a nice weapon. For his ability to stay out there and focus without fouling I thought was huge. He was, in my mind, the player of the game for us on both sides of the ball.”

Utah stifled the regularly hot-handed Lumberjacks, holding the team to 34.8 percent shooting and 19 points in the first half — a season low in both figures. Despite a late-game surge, Utah held strong on defense, keeping the Lumberjacks to 33.3 percent shooting.

The Lumberjacks, though, held Utah to one field goal in the final nine minutes of play. But the shots weren’t falling for Stephen F. Austin and they weren’t able to execute their game plan, according to Stephen F. Austin coach Brad Underwood.

“They’re such a dangerous three-point shooting team. We wanted to force those drives,” Underwood said of his team’s approach late in the game. “You would think that holding them to one field goal for the last nine minutes, we just couldn’t get that basket to get over the hump. We got some really good looks.”

Utah finished the game shooting 7-of-8 from the free throw line, securing a 57-50 win and an opportunity to play No. 4 Georgetown Saturday at approximately 6 p.m. MST.

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