USA Advances to World Cup Semifinals with 100-63 Win Over Italy

05 September 2023

USA 100, ITA 63

The United States beat to Italy 100-63 to advance to the semifinals at the 2023 FIBA Men's World Cup in Manila, Philippines. Friday's semifinal will take place at 8:40 p.m. PHT (8:40 a.m. ET) on ESPN2/ESPN+ with opponent TBD.

The U.S. is seeking its sixth FIBA Men’s World Cup gold medal.

View the USA-Italy box score here.

TEAM NOTES

Starting Out: The United States used the same starters as it has the previous three games: Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and Jaren Jackson Jr.

Worth Noting: With tonight’s 100-63 win, the USA moved to 7-2 versus Italy at the World Cup. The U.S. will make its ninth semifinal World Cup appearance on Friday night (semifinal format began in 1978) vs. either Germany or Latvia. The win marks the 15th time that the U.S. will finish fourth or better at the World Cup. Tonight’s 37-point margin of victory was the second-highest margin at FIBA Men’s World Cup quarterfinal game (USA def. Slovenia, 2014, 119-76).

Starting Strong: The U.S. led 24-14 after the first quarter, marking the second time in FIBA Men’s World Cup history that Italy was trailing by a double-digit margin at the end of the first quarter. The USA are unbeaten all-time in the World Cup when winning the opening quarter by 10 or more points. The Americans limited Italy to just 24 first half points, which was the second lowest scoring first half by any team in the quarterfinals at the World Cup (Turkey 23 pts, vs. Argentina, 2006).

From Downtown: The U.S. made 17 3-pointers, marking the first time the U.S. hit 15+ 3-pointers in a World Cup Game since 2014 vs. Serbia. Tyrese Haliburton led the U.S. with six triples. Eight Americans connected from distance on the night.

PLAYER NOTES

Build Me a Bridge: Mikal Bridges had a team-high and personal-best 24 points, marking the first time he’s led the U.S. in scoring this summer. Bridges pulled down seven rebounds (tied for team-high) and added five assists and three steals.

Double-Digit Scorers: In addition to Bridges, Haliburton and Austin Reaves notched 18 and 12 points, respectively. At least three USA players have scored in double digits in each of its six games this tournament.

Tyrese From Deep: Haliburton’s six triples were the most by any USA player in a quarterfinals game at a World Cup. Haliburton scored 18 points, the most for him in any game this tournament. In fact, he is only the third player to have made six or more 3-pointers in a quarterfinal game at the World Cup (Patty Mills, 6, 2019; Larry Ayuso, 7, 2002).

Pass the Rock: Haliburton led the team with five assists. It’s the seventh time this summer (including ties) Haliburton has led the Americans in assists. He is leading the U.S. in assists with 5.0 per game.

Portis on the Boards: For the second straight game, Bobby Portis Jr. shared the team-high for rebounds (7). Portis now has 4.5 rebounds per game. Josh Hart leads the U.S. with 5.8 per game.