Team USA got off to a sluggish start Friday night in the quarterfinals of the FIBA U18 Americas Championship against Mexico in Tijuana, Mexico.
But Arkansas basketball signee Anthony Black provided a spark off the bench and helped his team grab a 92-64 victory to move on to Saturday’s semifinal round.
Though the 6-7 guard finished the win with 3 points on 1 of 5 shooting and had 4 turnovers, he was one of Team USA’s most effective players. It outscored Mexico by 14 points in his 23:19 on the floor.
Black recorded a game-high 11 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive end, handed out 4 assists and tallied 4 steals and 2 blocks. He had 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 block at halftime as Team USA led 43-34.
Mexico entered the second quarter with an 18-10 lead after Black fouled a three-point shooter at the top of the key with 0.3 seconds remaining in the first period. But a 33-point second quarter for Team USA put it back in control for good.
In the second, Black scored 2 points as he put back a miss by Oregon signee Kel’el Ware, grabbed 3 defensive rebounds and added 1 block and 1 steal. His contributions were key in a 20-0 run that resulted in a 33-20 lead.
Villanova signee Cam Whitmore had a game-high 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting.
Through four games at the event, Black leads Team USA in rebounds (9.5) and assists (5) per game. He has team highs in offensive rebounds (10), defensive rebounds (28), steals (9) and is second with 6 blocks.
And despite an 8-of-25 shooting stretch, he is averaging a team-best 21.2 minutes per outing.
Team USA is set to face Argentina on Saturday at 7 p.m. Central for a spot in Sunday’s title game. The game will be streamed on FIBA’s YouTube channel.