As if Day one of March Madness didn’t already have enough nail-biters and upsets to make you want to throw your bracket into a dumpster fire, the Runnin’ Utes had to get in on the fun.
With smothering defense and the resiliency to hold off a late rally, Utah fended off popular pick SF Austin to keep on dancing through the tourney. The win in Portland halted the Lumberjacks nine game win streak, and kept the Pac-12 perfect through the first day of games.
Now it’s on to Houston to two-step with a Georgetown team that, like the Utes, is proving they can fend off some of the more-favored offenses in the tourney.
It goes without saying that Utah’s win Thursday was more than just courtesy of baskets from Delon Wright with seconds left to play. We talked earlier in the week about Utah’s backcourt being the key to their success against the high-scoring Jacks, and Utah’s defense in the first half was incredibly pivotal in steimying SFA’s offense and giving the no.5 seed breathing room to put points on the board.
Jakob Poeltl was stellar on both ends of the court on Thursday, with a game high 18 points and eight rebounds, plus he blocked four of SFA’s 18 attempts from in the paint. Leading by example? Can’t hurt a team looking for more wins.
Granted, Saturday’s contest against the Hoyas will be a bit different than Utah’s previous tilt, although that high-level D needs to show up just as it did against the Lumberjacks. Georgetown doesn’t put triple digits on the board, but they can get off to an early start–as was evident against East Washington in Round 2. While this Hoyas team has also been known to lose steam as a game rolls on, the Utes can’t wait for the opposition to give them an opening.
In summary: The same game plan as used on Thursday can catapult Utah over Georgetown. Tip off for the game is scheduled for 7:45pm Eastern time.
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*Section Photo credit to Ethan Miller, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Russ Isabella, USA Today Sports
