Utah vs. SF Austin: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2015

The No. 5 Utah Utes overcame their own late-shooting struggles and a furious late charge from upset-minded No. 12 Stephen F. Austin, winning 57-50 to move on to the third round of the 2015 NCAA tournament.

But led by Utah 7-footer Jakob Poeltl's 18 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, the Utes took advantage of a size mismatch and held off the rally despite 17 team turnovers and relatively quiet nights for Delon Wright (11 points) and Jordan Loveridge (12 points).

The Utes nearly allowed Stephen F. Austin to steal one due to their sloppy play but more than made up for it by limiting the Lumberjacks to 17-of-51 shooting. 

A popular upset pick, Stephen F. Austin's loss meant teams from Texas went 0-of-5 Thursday, per Fox Sports' Anthony Andro:

Bracket-pickers' affinity for the Lumberjacks may have been their demise, as Bleacher Report's Nick Kostos quipped:

If the Utes were motivated by being put on upset watch against the No. 12 seed, it seemed to show from the opening tip. They clamped down on the Lumberjacks early, jumping out to a 26-15 lead in a defensive slugfest of a first half.

The first-half scoring woes were Stephen F. Austin's worst of the season, per ESPN Stats and Info:

The first half was one to forget offensively for the Lumberjacks, but Utah's turnover tendencies allowed them to claw back in it quickly upon the start of the final frame. Four straight makes from the field brought Stephen F. Austin to within just a point of Utah's game-long lead early in the second.

That's when Poeltl began to take over. A nightmare for the undersized Lumberjacks, the 7-footer became more and more of a mismatch as the game wore along and helped the Utes pull ahead by 12 with eight minutes left.

Kevin Pelton of ESPN saw Poeltl's presence as a game-changer:

Stephen F. Austin never had an answer for Poeltl, but it continued to claw and fight. What the Lumberjacks could do was force more Utes turnovers, as they committed four and missed five shots in a near-seven-minute span without a field goal.

Slowly but surely, the 'Jacks chopped away at the deficit, per CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli:

The Utes only made one field goal in the final nine minutes but gripped onto a tight lead for life as Ty Charles missed a shot to tie it with 49 seconds left. That put the game into the hands of the charity stripe, and the Utes hit five of their six free throws in the final seconds while the Lumberjacks missed their final five three-point attempts. 

Poeltl dominated defensively with five blocks, but his last one on the final play was fitting coming against 3-of-14 Jacob Parker, per The Salt Lake Tribune's Kyle Goon:

"

The Lumberjacks are taking an axe to Utah’s lead.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) March 20, 2015"

While far from a perfect day, Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak was elated with his team's defensive play and attributed much of it to his assistants, per FootballScoop.com's Zach Barnett:

Utah may have overcome the upset alert and survived, but the Utes showed signs of their late-season slide amid huge struggles late in the game. What really should have been over with a few minutes remaining turned into a nail-biter due to sloppy turnovers and bad shots.

With that said, there's nothing disappointing about moving on in the NCAA tournament and topping a talented Lumberjacks team. The Utes may not be at the peak form they showed earlier this season, but their chances against either No. 4 Georgetown or No. 13 Eastern Washington should be liked.