The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Team USA defeats Chile 70-50 at FIBA Americas U18 to advance to semifinals
07.21.2016 | Men's Basketball
Men's Basketball freshman Jarrett Allen records a team-high nine rebounds and two blocks in Thursday’s victory.
Additional USA Basketball quotes
Watch FIBA youTube stream of game broadcast
VALDIVIA, Chile — University of Texas freshman Jarrett Allen posted a team-high nine rebounds to help Team USA (3-0) to a 70-50 victory against host Chile (1-2) in preliminary round play at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship on Thursday evening. Allen, who started the game, added four points, two blocks and one steal in 26 minutes.
UT freshman James Banks recorded two points in three minutes. Texas coach Shaka Smart is serving as head coach for the USA team.
"First of all, Chile was extremely tough and aggressive tonight," Smart said. "I thought they played great in front of their home crowd. The played with a lot of passion early, and when we had defensive breakdowns, they made us pay by making shots. I thought our guys did a really good job in the second half of playing with more energy and more connectivity on the defensive end. We were able to force more stops."
With the victory, the Americans conclude preliminary round pool play with a 3-0 mark and advance as the top seed in Group B to the tournament semifinals. Team USA will face Brazil (2-1) at 7:15 p.m. CT on Friday, July 22 in the second semifinal, while Canada (3-0) will play Puerto Rico (2-1) at 5 p.m. CT in the first semifinal. The two semifinal winners will meet in the Gold Medal game, scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 23.
In addition to pursuing a gold medal, the United States has earned a qualifying berth in the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship by virtue of their top-four team finish in this tournament. All games during the FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men will be streamed live on FIBA's youTube channel: www.youTube.com/FIBA. Please follow The University of Texas' Men's Basketball official Twitter page (@TexasMBB) for links to live video and live stats throughout the tournament.
2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship Results (Team USA schedule only)
Thursday, July 21
USA 70, Chile 50
Wednesday, July 20
USA 107, U.S. Virgin Islands 63
Tuesday, July 19
USA 103, Puerto Rico 70
2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship Upcoming Schedule (Team USA schedule only)
(all times Central, all games in Valdivia, Chile)
Friday, July 22 (Semifinals)
USA vs Brazil, 7:15 pm CT
Saturday, July 23
Bronze Medal Game, 5 pm CT
Gold Medal Game, 7:15 pm CT