Mikael Jantunen To Miss Time With Utah To Play For Finnish National Team

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah basketball announced that forward Mikael Jantunen will miss the next few games due to playing for the Finnish National Team.

Mikael Jantunen will miss a couple of weeks with Utah while competing with his home country’s national team in the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifier.

“We wish Mikael and the Finnish National Team all the best as they take care of business over at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifier,” Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “We look forward to him joining us down the home stretch of the season and compete in the Pac-12 Tournament.”

Mikael Jantunen will miss the next couple of games for Utah as he will be competing with the Finnish national team in the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifier.#GoUtes #Pac12Hoops @kslsports

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) February 14, 2021

Finland is 1-3 in the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers and had to request the services of Jantunen to miss time with the Runnin’ Utes. They will play Switzerland in an elimination game as they look to advance with Georgia and Serbia in Group E.

“It wasn’t an easy decision and I never want to miss any games,” Jantunen said. “At the same time, I’m going to play for my country and when they called saying they needed me, I felt like I had to go and I want to go help us qualify for the tournament. I’ve been playing with the national team since I was a teenager and it’s been a dream of mine to play for the senior national team and represent my country.”

Jantunen leads the Pac-12 in field goal percentage with 64 percent. He is averaging 8.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. The Helsinki native will be out for Utah’s game against Stanford at 8 p.m. MST on Saturday, February 13. Riley Battin will start in his place.

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Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.