Runnin' Utes Entertain Idaho State in Tuesday Tilt

Tuesday, December 8

Salt Lake City, UT

4:00 PM

University of Utah

Idaho State

Runnin' Utes Entertain Idaho State in Tuesday Tilt

12/7/2020 1:47 PM | Men's Basketball

Utah Game Notes ISU Game Notes

The Utah men’s basketball team welcomes in Idaho State for a 4 p.m. tip on Tuesday, Dec. 8.

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah moves back to non-conference play this week as it welcomes in Idaho State for a Tuesday tilt on the Pac-12 Networks at 4 p.m. (MT) inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Todd Harris will once again have the call and joined by former Utah assistant coach Joe Cravens as the Utes look to secure their second win of the season and sixth-straight against the Bengals.

SCOUTING THE BENGALS
Idaho State enters Tuesday's match-up 0-3 on the season and play its fourth-straight road game to start the year. The Bengals opened the season in Santa Clara playing three games against the host Santa Clara before facing Nicholls State and UC Davis.

ISU returns just three players from last year's roster that saw action on the floor and will have the services of a pair of redshirts. Tarika Cool (Sr.), Malik Porter (Sr.) and Austin Smellie (Jr.) accounted for nearly half of the team's scoring last season, tallying 997 of the 2,091 points (47.6 percent) for the Bengals. Idaho State has 13 newcomers this year, six of which are freshmen while the remaining five are transfers to go with Daxton Carr and Brayden Parker coming off redshirt seasons last year.

Cool is the lone Bengal averaging in double-figures through three games, checking in with 11.7 points per game while Porter and Robert Ford III are averaging 9.7 points and 9.3 points, respectively. Porter leads the team on the glass with 6.0 rebounds per game while Parker is averaging 5.7 rebounds in his first three starts.

IN THE NATION
Through games on Sunday, Dec. 6, the Utes are statistically among the top-25 individually in several categories.

Rank	Category	Player	Value
4	Offensive Rebounds Per Game	Mikael Jantunen	5.0
5	Field-Goal Percentage	Mikael Jantunen	.833
5	Steals Per Game	Alfonso Plummer	4.0
10	3FGM Per Game	Alfonso Plummer	4.0
10	Blocks Per Game	Branden Carlson	3.0
15	Defensive Rebounds Per game	Timmy Allen	8.0
16	Assists Per Game	Pelle Larsson	7.0

LAST TIME OUT
After a sluggish start, Utah's veterans stepped up and guided the Utes past Washington 76-62 in its home, season and Pac-12 opener last Thursday.

Senior Alfonso Plummer continued where he left off the last time he stepped on the floor and dropped 21 points for the Utes while Timmy Allen had 14 points and eight rebounds. Mikael Jantunen, who made his fourth-career start, added 10 points and eight boards of his own with Branden Carlson chipping in with nine points, five rebounds and a trio of blocks. Riley Battin also had six points and five rebounds for the Utes while floor general Rylan Jones had six points to go with his five dimes.

Freshman Pelle Larsson came as advertised and recorded eight points with seven assists on 2-of-4 shooting while going 4-of-4 from the stripe. Fellow freshman Ian Martinez saw action as well and newcomer Jordan Kellier picked up his first bucket at the Division I level with 1:21 left in the game with a nice floater.

UP NEXT
The Runnin' Utes head down I-15 for the anticipated showdown with in-state rival BYU inside the Marriott Center on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 4 p.m. on BYUtv. Saturday's contest will serve as the 261st meeting between the Utes and Cougars.

LOOK AHEAD
Utah returns home for a pair of non-conference games against Utah Valley (Dec. 15) and Idaho (Dec. 18) before resuming Pac-12 play with a Dec. 22 date at Arizona State (7 p.m. MT).

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