USA to Face Chile in Third Game at Universiade Gwangju 2015
The USA National Team (2-0) for the World University Games, consisting mainly of the Kansas men’s basketball student-athletes and staff, will face Chile (0-2) in the two teams’ third game of Pool D on Tuesday, July 7 at 2:30 p.m. local, 12:30 a.m. in Kansas, at Muan Indoor Gymnasium. The USA Team’s game versus Chile will not be televised. One can follow the action via twitter at @KUhoops. This will be the only game the USA team will not play in Pool D competition that is not in Dongkang College Gymnasium.
USA improved to 2-0 with an 81-72 victory against Brazil on July 5. The Americans defeated Turkey in their opening round, 66-57, on July 4. Chile dropped both its Pool D contests to Brazil, 78-33, on July 4 and to Serbia, 69-43, on July 5.
Pool D Update
With the win versus Brazil on Sunday, July 5, USA improved to 2-0 and Brazil fell to 1-1 in Pool D play. Also on July 5, Serbia defeated Chile, 69-43, to improve to 2-0. Turkey is also 1-1 after its 68-61 win versus Switzerland (0-2), while Chile is also 0-2. Besides the USA-Chile contest, Switzerland will face Brazil and Serbia will play Turkey on July 7. The top two of six teams from each of the four pools will play in the medal bracket in the World University Games.
Rare Day Off
With eight games in 10 days, the USA squad had its first of two days off on July 6. The student-athletes and staff ventured into Gwangju for lunch and then planned to go support the USA women’s basketball team which played China in the evening of July 6.
USA Update
Guard Wayne Selden, Jr., has led USA in scoring in both games with 19 points in the win against Turkey and 23 versus Brazil. Selden, who is scoring 21.0 points per contest, has made a team-best five three-pointers in the two games and is second on the team to forward Perry Ellis in rebound average at 6.5 boards per game. Ellis, who leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per contest, is averaging 13.0 points per game. Point guard Frank Mason is second in scoring at 13.5 points per contest and leads USA with 11 assists. He and Selden are tied for the team high with four steals each. In all, seven of the 10 players who have played are averaging 16 or more minutes per game.
As a team, USA is controlling the boards outrebounding Turkey by one (37-36) and Brazil by 23 (50-27). Additionally, the USA squad is outshooting its opponents 40.8 percent to 37.3 and making 73.9 percent of its free throws through two contests.
Brazil Summary
For consecutive games, guard Wayne Selden, Jr. put up All-American numbers as he led USA to an 81-72 victory over Brazil in its second contest of the World University Games July 5 at Dongkang College Gymnasium in Gwangju, Korea.
Selden scored team-high 19 points in the July 4 win against Turkey and poured in a USA-best 23 points the following day against Brazil. But Selden will be the first to tell you it wasn’t all him. Point guard Frank Mason III recorded 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and once again orchestrated the USA squad to victory. Forward Hunter Mickelson showed a lot of hustle in scoring 11 points and pulling down eight rebounds, while forward Jamari Traylor was his usual high-motor self in scoring 10 points in the win.
Brazil led 13-12 after one quarter but the USA team outscored the Brazilians 28-15 in the second period. The USA squad took a 24-23 lead midway through second quarter and never relinquished the lead the remainder of the game. Twice, in the third and fourth quarters, the USA built a 16-point advantage and the closest Brazil would get would be seven. The Americans dominated the boards outrebounding the Brazilians 50-27 for the game.
Turkey Wrap Up
Wayne Selden, Jr., led all scorers with 19 points to lead USA to a 66-57 win against Turkey on July 4, at Dongkang College Gymnasium in its opening round of Pool D competition. Selden just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, which also led both teams for the game. Forward Perry Ellis scored 17 points and pulled down six rebounds, while guard Frank Mason III added 12 points and four assists. Guard Nic Moore had nine points, which included two three-pointers.
As a team, the USA team outscored Turkey 38-18 in points in the paint and 18-9 in points off turnovers. Turkey controlled the first five-plus minutes of the contest, building an 18-7 lead but the USA squad fought back to tie the game at 23 and went on a 12-2 run to start the second half en route to the victory.
Four USA Pool Games and Medal Bracket Play to be Shown on ESPNU
ESPNU and ESPN3 will have more than 100 hours of coverage of the World University Games from July 3 through July 14 from Gwangju, South Korea, with an emphasis on Team USA Men’s and Women’s Basketball. ESPNU have and will televise the Team USA Men’s Basketball pool play games on July 3, 5, 7, and 8. Should Team USA advance out of the pool play, ESPNU will televise their quarterfinal game (July 11), semifinal game (July 12), and Gold Medal game (July 13). Danny Lee and Kevin Lehman will call the action.
What’s Ahead
Following the Chile contest, on Wednesday, July 8, the USA will play Serbia at noon, 10 p.m. July 7 in Kansas, at Dongkang College Gymnasium on ESPNU. The USA Team will conclude Pool D play against Switzerland on Thursday, July 9, at 10 a.m., 8 p.m. in Kansas, at Dongkang College Gymnasium.
Bracket play for the World University Games begins Saturday, July 10 and lasts through Monday, July 13. There are four pools of six teams each and, following pool competition, the teams will be seeded for bracket play with the top two teams from each pool battling for a medal. Teams who finish third and fourth in their pool will participate in a consolation bracket, while the remaining teams that finish fifth and sixth in their pool will play in a third bracket. Each team is guaranteed to play at least eight games throughout the entire World University Games.
How this Happened
In April 2014, the Kansas basketball team was selected by the United States International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF) to represent the United States in the World University Games. Kansas was selected as the team to represent the U.S. from the schools that expressed interest.
With more than 150 countries competing in 21 sports, the World University Games are held every two years and are governed by the International University Sports Federation. Only current university student-athletes or recent graduates, born between Jan. 1, 1990, and Dec. 31, 1997, are eligible for the 2015 Games. For Kansas’ participation, only U.S. citizens can compete and incoming freshmen and transfers qualify. The Kansas travel party, consisting of 12 competitors and 11 staff (23 total), will leave Lawrence June 28 and live in the athlete village throughout the Games.
This is the second time a college team will compete in the World University Games. In 2007, the University of Northern Iowa participated and finished ninth in Bangkok, Thailand.
Historically
The World University Games are held every other year and are organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The World University Games is a multi-sport competition open to men and women who are between the ages of 17 and 24, and are or have been within the past year, a student at a college or university.
The World University Games began in 1965 in Budapest, Hungary, with the United States men’s basketball team posting a 9-0 record in winning the gold medal. The USA has won 13 gold medals with its last in 2005 and its 19 total medals are more than any other country.
Eighteen players who have represented the USA in the World University Games have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games, including KU’s Jo Jo White, who won gold for the USA at the 1967 World University Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Seven other Jayhawks besides White have competed in the World University Games, the last being Jerod Haase, who won gold for the USA in 1995. Other KU players who have competed for the U.S. in the World University Games include: Dave Robisch in 1970 (silver), Greg Dreiling and Ron Kellogg in 1985 (silver), Mark Randall in 1989 (gold), Adonis Jordan in 1991 (gold) and Richard Scott in 1993 (gold). Additionally, former KU coach Roy Williams was an assistant coach in the 1991 World University Games, and KU Head Team Physician, Dr. Larry Magee, was the USA physician in 1995 and is with the USA squad this trip.
About the National Team
The USA National Team for the upcoming World University Games (WUG), July 3-14 in Gwangju, Korea, continued preparation for the event when the student-athletes returned to Lawrence for summer school June 7. The national team is coached by Bill Self, who has guided Kansas to an unprecedented 11-straight Big 12 Conference regular-season titles (2005-15) and two Final Fours as the Jayhawks are the winningest program in NCAA Division I since the 2006-07 season, averaging 31.1 wins in that span with an 83.8 winning percentage. In 12 seasons at Kansas, Self is 352-78 (81.9 percent), averaging 29.3 wins per year. Overall, Self has a 559-183 (75.3 percent) record in his 22nd seasons as a head coach.
Forward Perry Ellis is one of four returning all-conference performers from 2014-15 and headlines the USA National Team roster. A Wichita, Kansas native, Ellis was an All-Big 12 First Team selection last season, leading Kansas in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg). He was also named to the 2015 Academic All-Big 12 First Team and the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Guard Frank Mason III, from Petersburg, Virginia, was an All-Big 12 Second Team honoree who was second on the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game and led Kansas with 142 assists and 50 steals in 2014-15. Mason’s 42.9 percent shooting from three-point range was best on the KU team last season. Guard Wayne Selden, Jr., from Roxbury, Massachusetts, was a 2015 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection who led Kansas with 46 three-pointers made last year as he averaged 9.4 points per contest.
The only non-Jayhawks on the roster are SMU guard Nic Moore and Florida Gulf Coast guard Julian DeBose, who replaced Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham who suffered an injury which will not allow him to compete in the games. Moore was the 2015 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and led SMU in scoring (14.5 ppg), assists (5.1 apg) and steals (1.3 spg) last season. The Winona Lake, Indiana all-conference first-team selection led the Mustangs to their first conference regular-season title since 1993. DeBose, who joined the team June 20, averaged 11.9 points and 3.9 rebounds for FGCU last year under former KU assistant coach Joe Dooley.
Ellis, forwards Jamari Traylor (4.8 points, 3.7 rebounds in 2014-15) and Landen Lucas (3.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and guards Evan Manning and Tyler Self have international experience heading to Gwangju as they competed in Kansas’ four exhibition games in Switzerland and France in August 2012. Lucas and forward Hunter Mickelson (2.4 ppg, 19 blocked shots in 2014-15) spent August 2014 playing internationally as Lucas played for the Athletes in Action touring Estonia and Latvia and Mickelson was a member of Guy Rancourt’s USA East Coast Basketball Team in the 2014 Four Nations Cup in Estonia and Finland.
Expect newcomers Carlton Bragg, Jr. and Lagerald Vick to be key contributors for the World University Games. Bragg, who broke his nose in USA’s second practice in Gwangju and may play in the WUG, is a power forward who was a McDonald’s All-American last year, while Vick is an explosive guard with great range shooting.
Timing Format for FIBA
Timeouts (source: FIBA Rule Chart):
2 x 60 seconds in the first 2 quarters
3 x 60 seconds in the last 2 quarters – can only use 2 in the last 2 minutes of the 2nd half.
Cannot buy an extra time out.
Requested at score table by Coach or Assistant.
If your team is scored upon, T.O. may be called.
After successful free throw, either team may call T.O.
Teams stay in huddle for 50 seconds.
Not allowed between free throws.
They do not carry over from one half to the next.
1 x 60 second time out allotted for an overtime period.
Opportunity ends when the ball is in the thrower in’s hands.
No time out for scoring team when the clock is under 2:00 of the 4th quarter unless an official has stopped the game.
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