July 24, 1999

LISBON, Portuga – Hitting a USA Basketball single game record of nine three-pointers at the FIBA Junior World Championship, the 1999 USA Men’s Junior World Championship Team crushed Croatia 83-62 tonight at the Atlantico Pavilion in Lisbon, Portugal. The United States advances to the gold medal contest and will play Spain, 81-80 victors over Argentina in Saturday’s second semifinal, at 7:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. EST) here Sunday night. Guard Matt Carroll, who will be a freshman at Notre Dame in the fall, played five minutes and added a rebound and a steal.

“The guys came out and started the basketball game really focused,” said USA and Arizona State University head coach Rob Evans. “They played great defense for the first 15 minutes of the game and set the tone for how the game was going to be played. We were able to take Croatia out of a lot of things that they wanted to run, therefore giving us a chance to get some easy baskets in transition. The other thing was that we did a great job on the boards, we rebounded the basketball and limited them to one shot and we were able to get some offensive rebounds and putbacks.

“We got off to about a 20 point lead and then we did let up a little bit, but that’s natural. I don’t like to see it, but it is natural to do that. I was pleased with the way they came out on the defensive end of the floor and attacked on defense, and then the way they pushed the ball back up the floor. They really played great team basketball tonight.”

The United States closed out the night by again shooting at least 50 percent (29-58 FGs, 50.0%) from the field, a feat it has accomplished in five of its seven contests, and also shot over 40 percent from three-point for the third straight game, hitting 45.0 percent (9-20 3pt FGs) of its shots from afar. In contrast, the U.S. defense limited Croatia to a frigid 33.8 percent (23-68 FGs) from the field and 24.0 percent (6-25 3pt FGs) from three-point. The Americans outrebounded Croatia 46-29, including 26-13 in the first half, and were able to convert on four of its 11 boards, while Croatia missed its lone attempted putback. The Americans also scored 12 points on six of its seven fast breaks for 12 points.

The USA’s nine three-point field goals made ties a national record at this tournament as the 995 and 1991 squads each drilled nine three-pointers against Greece and Nigeria, respectively. Additionally, eight of the USA’s nine threes came in the first half.