U.S. Closes Out Preliminary Play With 98-73 Win Over Israel
8/9/2001 8:45:32 AM | Men's Basketball
by Craig Miller, USA Basketball
The win secured the No. 1 seed in Group B for the Americans, who now move on to medal round quarterfinals and play Slovenia (3-2), the Group A No. 4 seed, on Friday at 8:20 p.m. (Tokyo local time).
"The game was a game of runs. We made a good run in the first half after they got off to a good start, then at the end of the first half they came out and caught us. At the start of the second half we played as well as you can ask a team to play for seven or eight minutes. Then they came back again and when we had to we made the last run," said USA and Syracuse mentor Jim Boeheim.
Owning a one-point lead at halftime, the USA held Israel scoreless for the first 6:18 of the third quarter while posting 22 unanswered points to take command 74-51 with 2:54 left in the quarter. Butler started the USA onslaught with the first eight points of the third quarter and Troy Bell (Boston College/Minneapolis, MN) capped the run with the last five points as the USA lead reached 23 points.
Israel countered with its own mini-run and scored the third quarter's final 11 points to trail 74-62 heading into the fourth quarter. Israel was not finished yet and following a basket by Ori Ichaki with 6:46 to play in the contest, Israel had rallied back within eight, 78-70.
The USA went on a final game deciding run and scored 13 straight points to regain control 91-70. The game winning rally started when Nick Collison (Kansas/Iowa Falls, IA) scored on an offensive rebound, then forward Carlos Boozer (Duke/ Juneau, AK) scored back-to-back baskets as Duke teammate Chris Duhon (Slidell, LA) found him loose inside both times.
with 2:28 left before half. However, Israel blanked the U.S. 10-0 over the second quarter's final 2:28 to reduce the U.S. lead to one, 52-51, at halftime.
While Butler led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, he also added five rebounds and three steals. Boozer finished with his second consecutive double-double, recording 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and adding 11 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph's/Chester, PA) was the only other American to score in double figures with 10 points. Duhon had a game best eight assists to go with seven points.
The U.S. shot 48.8 percent (39-80 FGs) from the field, outrebounded Israel 49-44, and committed only nine turnovers. The U.S. forced Israel into 13 turnovers, the USA defense limited Israel to 37.7 percent (26-69 FGs) shooting overall, and just 6-20 shooting from behind the 3-point line.
In Wednesday's other final preliminary round games, in Group B, Argentina (3-2) earned the No. 3 seed in Group B after whipping South Korea (0-5) 98-74, and Croatia (2-3) defeated host Japan (1-4) 105-77 to capture the No. 4 seed for Group B. In an upset in Group A, Dominican Republic (3-2) defeated European champ Slovenia (3-2) 84-81 to earn the No. 3 seed in Group A, Spain (4-1) secured the Group A No. 1 seed after pounding Egypt (1-4) 116-45, and Australia claimed the No. 2 seed after easily disposing of Qatar (0-5) 90-68.
Following a day off Thursday, all 12 teams return to court on Aug. 10 for quarterfinals play. The medal round quarterfinals match-ups feature Group A No. 1 seed Spain facing Group B No. 4 seed Croatia; Group A No. 2 seed Australia meeting Group B No. 3 seed Argentina; Group B No. 1 seed USA will take on Group A No. 4 seed Slovenia, while Group B No. 2 seed Israel will play Group A No. 3 seed Dominican Republic. Winners of the quarterfinals round games keep their medal hopes alive and advance to the medal semifinals action on Aug. 11, while quarterfinals losers will meet in semifinals play to determine fifth through eighth places. The gold and bronze medal games, as well as final round games to determine fifth-through-eighth places will be contested on Sunday, Aug. 12.
