77 Days to B1G Basketball: Team USA Advances to Medal Rounds

The Boilermakers are currently overseas in Taipei representing the United States in the World University Games and so far things have been rolling smoothly for Team USA.

After winning their first two games in pool play, Team USA faced the Czech Republic in their third game. While things were a bit closer than their prior game, they would go on to once again win in decisive fashion. The Czech Republic did manage a strong run to close the second quarter, but the USA got things rolling again in the second half and cruised to an impressive 107-78 victory.

Leading the way in scoring was Vincent Edwards, who had 22 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Isaac Haas also had an impressive day with 17 points and 5 rebounds, while both Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline also reached double figures. The USA team limited turnovers to 10 and shot 57% from the field, including 43% from beyond the arc.

In their fourth game was Romania, with Team USA jumping out to a 68-24 halftime lead (shades of Alcorn State from the Baby Boiler days). Leading the team in scoring was Sasha Stefanovic with 17 points. Due to the lopsided affair, the USA was able to spread around minutes with everyone playing at least 11 minutes and no one playing more than around 21 minutes. The USA shot 54% from the field, 46% from three (41 attempts), forced 29 turnovers and held their opponent to 0 second chance points. Team USA also dominated inside, outscoring Romania in the paint 46-16.

With Team USA now sitting at 4-0 and only one game remaining against Estonia, the team is set to advance to the medal rounds.

The team’s final pool game against Estonia should actually be wrapped up by the time this is posted, as the game tips off at 12:30 a.m ET (the article was written last night, as I have to be up at 3 for work and what not).