July 13, 2007
Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan scored 8 points with 4 rebounds to help Team USA to a 103-77 win against China on Friday at the U19 World Championship.
Kansas State's Michael Beasley led the American team (2-0) with 21 points. The USA will cap preliminary play against host Serbia (2-0) on Saturday. In the other Group B Game, Serbia trounced Mali (0-2), 70-47.
"Certainly it was our best game in terms of execution on the fast break," USA and DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright said. "We got several baskets on two and three passes after rebounding instead of dribbling it. In all honesty, we probably missed four or five dunks that would have spread this game a little more. We had that lull right at the end of the third quarter that got them back into it a little bit. We made some progress in some areas and took a step back in others. We?â„¢re going to have to play a whole lot better to win it all here."
The American squad outrebounded China, 44-32, and forced 28 turnovers.
In other preliminary round play, Lithuania (1-1) downed Lebanon (0-2), 105-69; France (2-0) remained undefeated with a 98-73 victory over Brazil (1-1); Australia (2-0) nipped Nigeria (0-2), 77-73; South Korea (1-1) edged Puerto Rico (0-2), 98-94; Turkey (1-1) passed by Canada (1-1), 81-58; and Spain (2-0) took down Argentina (1-1), 88-68.
The top three teams from each of the four preliminary round groups advance to the second round, which begins on Monday. The top three teams from Groups A and B will compete in round-robin play in second round Group E, while the top three teams from Groups C and D will play each other in Group F. The preliminary round results carry over to the second round standings and teams will only face advancing squads from the opposite group in second round action. Quarterfinals will be played on next Friday, followed by the semifinals on July 21 and the gold medal game on July 22.