Utah Freshman Pelle Larsson Leads Utah To Win Over Idaho State
Dec 8, 2020, 6:34 PM
Utah Utes guard Pelle Larsson (3) dunks ahead of Idaho State Bengals forward Kyle Karstetter (14) in a nonconference basketball game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah men’s basketball team won their second straight game to start the season with a 75-59 victory over Idaho State.
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Facing a team out of the Big Sky Conference, Utah had their struggles throughout the game. They also had their bright moments in their second game of the 2020-21 season.
True freshman guard Pelle Larsson had a great game on Tuesday afternoon with a team-high 14 points, along with one rebounds and three assists. He shot 5-of-6 from the field and knocked down his only three-point attempt.
Larsson has brought energy in other ways as well on the defensive end as he is getting his hands in the passing lanes and using his athleticism on both ends of the floor.
FINAL#GoUtes #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/huMvErWMdV
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) December 9, 2020
Rebounding Woes
In Utah’s season opening win over Washington, they gave up 19 offensive rebounds and allowed 13 second chance points. On Tuesday against Idaho State, Utah was outrebounded 41-24. They allowed the Bengals to grab 17 offensive boards and score 22 second chance points.
Of the 24 rebounds for the Utes, they had just 4 offensive boards. Riley Battin and Alfonso Plummer led Utah with 5 rebounds apiece. Timmy Allen and Mikael Jantunen each added four boards.
Tell us if you've heard this one before… Jones to Larsson for the 🔨!!
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📲 https://t.co/FlaXG6fJDn#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/WJXC7hwob9— Utah Basketball🏀 (w/ 😷) (@UtahMBB) December 9, 2020
Balanced Scoring
Utah had six players score in double figures, led by Larsson with 14. Branden Carlson and Alfonso Plummer each added 13 points, Rylan Jones chipped in 12 points, Timmy Allen posted 11 points and Mikael Jantunen scored 10.
The Runnin’ Utes shot 50 percent from the field (28-55), 9-of-18 from the three-point line and 10-for-14 from the free throw line.
The Utes improved to 2-0 on the season and will play their first road game of the 2020-21 campaign on Saturday when they head down south to face the BYU Cougars at the Marriott Center. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. MST and will be televised on BYUtv and broadcast on KSL Newsradio.
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.
