Austin Rivers
Photo by Steven Maikoski/USA Basketball
scored 35 points Tuesday night as the USA Under-18 National Team dominated Canada 122-89 in the semifinals of the FIBA Americas Championship for Men at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas.
The United States will face Brazil for the gold medal Wednesday night.
"That's the goal and that's what we came here for," USA and University of Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel said. "Hopefully, we can come out and seize the opportunity tomorrow."
Rivers, a rising senior at Winter Park (Winter Park, Fla.) rated the No. 2 2011 prospect by MaxPreps.com, hit nine 3-pointers and connected on 12-of-18 field goal attempts en route to his game-high 35 points.
"Sometimes I just get in grooves where I hit a couple shots," Rivers said. "You feel like the basket's real wide. I know I hit a couple shots and then everything started going from there. After that it felt like any shot I threw up would go in, so it's kind of like a lot of adrenaline. It felt like I had ultimate energy. Everything was falling."
The United States, which improved its record to 37-2 all-time in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, hit 14 3-pointers as a team on just 24 attempts.
University of Missouri-bound Tony Mitchell added 13 points and nine rebounds for the USA, while Kyrie Irving (12 points, seven assists), Jereme Richmond (11 points) and Joshua Hairston (10 points) also reached double figures.
Canada put an accomplished team on the floor, including elite 2011 guard Myck Kabongo who led the way with 32 points and nine assists. Six-foot-nine forward Kyle Wiltjer has won two state championships at Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) and is regarded as a Top 100 prospect in next year's senior class, but was limited to seven points and five rebounds.
The United States improved to 4-0 overall in the event and burst out of the gates against Canada with a 37-10 advantage in the first quarter. Finals opponent Brazil is also 4-0. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT at Bill Greehey Arena.
