The USA U19 team was on fire from 3-point land in their game against Japan yesterday. They hit 52% of them for 57 points. That and their superior defense led to a 109-68 victory.
As usual, the USA effort was a balanced one, with everyone playing, scoring (six in double digits) and rebounding (even little Sammy Prahalis). Nneka played just 16 minutes and tallied seven points, five rebounds and two steals.
Here is the game report, box score, quotes and photos from USA Basketball and the game report, box score and photos from FIBA.
The victory takes the USA into the quarter-finals as the #3 seed with a 5-1 record. The top two teams are Australia and Spain — both undefeated. Australia is #1 because they have a greater scoring differential ( 155) than Spain (116). Although it doesn't affect the seeding, it's interesting that the USA has a greater scoring differential (167) than either of them, and no other team in the tournament is even close to those three. If you're interested in statistics, you can find more on the FIBA website in Standings and in Player Leaders.
The USA's first quarter-final game is against France (#7) on Friday at 1:15 a.m. Pacific time. If they win that game, they'll play the winner of the Australia (#1)/Canada (#6) game on Saturday at 3:30 a.m. The gold medal game is on Sunday at 4:00 a.m.
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