DENVER -- Sophomore 7-footer Jakob Poeltl scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds to help Utah hold off feisty Fresno State 80-69 Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Utah, the third seed in the Midwest, used a blistering 19-2 run down the stretch to regain control after falling behind for the first time all night with 10:32 remaining.

Lorenzo Bonham had 17 points and Brandon Taylor added 16 for the Utes (27-8), who will try for their second straight trip to the Sweet 16 when they face Seton Hall or Gonzaga on Saturday night.

Marvelle Harris, the Mountain West's player of the year, led the Bulldogs (25-10) with 24 points. It was their first NCAA appearance since 2001.

The Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak came crashing to a halt after they took a 48-47 lead with 10:32 remaining on Julien Lewis' 3-pointer, capping a 10-0 run over a 90-second span.

Bonham put Utah back on top with a 3 and Jordan Loveridge, whose back-to-back turnovers led to half of the Bulldogs' points in their run, sank two 3s to atone for his errors.

The Bulldogs, who hadn't lost since Feb. 13 in overtime at Nevada, had one last run in them: They scored the next nine points to cut the deficit to 67-59 with 2 minutes left.

Poeltl's three-point play on a nifty spin move halted the run and kept the Bulldogs at bay.

The Bulldogs did a good job on Poeltl early on, limiting him to 2-of-7 shooting in the first half. They used a swarming defence to force him into some mistakes like a throwback pass that resulted in a backcourt violation.

His teammates had his back, however, until he got it going in the second half.