The USA Junior National Select Team, which consists of talented young’ns like Anthony Davis, Austin Rivers and Michael Gilchrist, rolled to a victory in Saturday night’s game over the World Select Team. Here are some details, provided by our friends at USA Basketball:
The USA Basketball Junior National Select Team’s depth and defense helped it withstand the first triple-double in Nike Hoop Summit history as the Americas rolled to a 92-80 win over the World Select Team Saturday night in front of a national television audience and a Rose Garden crowd of 8,955 in Portland, Ore.
While four U.S. players scored in double-digits and all 10 USA team members put points on the board, Bismack Biyombo (Fuenlabrada, Spain and DR Congo) tallied 12 points, 11 rebounds and a Nike Hoop Summit record 10 blocked shots for the first triple-double in the game’s history.
However, Biyombo’s individual performance was no match for a stellar USA team effort.
“I’m a big believer in having depth, and with this particular team you have quality depth,” said USA head coach Kevin Sutton (Orlando, Fla.). “Having a bench where you could rotate players in freely with very little to no drop off was part of our game plan. We wanted to use our length, we wanted to use our athleticism and we wanted to make it a full court game versus a half court game. So having depth contributed to us being successful tonight.”
The USA was led by 20 points from guard Austin Rivers (Winter Park H.S./Winter Park, Fla.); a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots from 6-9 Anthony Davis (Perspectives Charter/Chicago, Ill.); 16 points, five rebounds and five blocks from 6-7 forward Michael Gilchrist (St. Patrick H.S./Somerdale, N.J.); and 12 points and three assists from guard Quinn Cook (Oak Hill Academy/Bowie, Md.).
“This is my first time playing with USA Basketball, and it’s a great opportunity that I got selected and got to play with them, and playing against the top talent in the world,” said Davis, who has signed to play at the University of Kentucky. “We really locked down on defense. Defense leads to offensive fast breaks, and that’s how we got our points. Luckily we came out with the win.”
The USA’s defense limited the World Team to 37.5 percent shooting from the field overall, including just 14.3 percent in the first quarter and 26.8 percent at halftime. Poor shooting meant the World Team was unable to capitalize on its 23 offensive rebounds and its 41-39 rebounding advantage over the USA.
