Haliburton earns gold and is named top-five player of the U19 FIBA World Cup

Chris Jorgensen/Iowa State Daily

Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton was one of two U.S. players named to the U19 FIBA World Cup All-Star Five due to his play at the cup.

Jack Shover
July 7, 2019

Tyrese Haliburton captured the gold medal for the United States after defeating Mali in the championship game of the U19 FIBA World Cup.

Aside from the gold medal, Haliburton will be leaving the World Cup with additional accolades as he was named to the All-Star Five which consists of the top five players of the World Cup.

During the course of the World Cup, Haliburton averaged 7.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.3 steals and a tournament best 6.9 assists per game. Haliburton also played the most amount of minutes of any U.S. player.

Teammate Reggie Perry, from Mississippi State, was also named to the All-Star Five and was named the Cup MVP.

Perry averaged 13.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists during the World Cup.

Prior to beating Mali in the final, the U.S. thrashed Lithuania 102-67 and Haliburton finished with five points and seven assists.

The Cyclone’s game against Mali was not even close to the blowout they experienced against Lithuania.

During the first quarter, Mali had as much as an eight point lead and the U.S. only had a two-point lead entering halftime. Despite the close score in the first half, the U.S. had as much as a 20 point lead and finished the game ahead 93-79.

Haliburton finished the game with six points, four rebounds, eight assists and two steals while playing 31 minutes.

The U.S. was able to overcome Mali behind 68 points in the paint and 49.3% shooting on two-point shots which overcame a 16.7% shooting performance from three.

Meanwhile, Mali shot 44.9% on their two-point shots and 29.7% from three.

While Mali finished second to the U.S., the team still blew expectations out of the water as no team from Africa has ever finished higher than 11th at the World Cup.

Overall, the U.S. established themselves as the top team at the U19 FIBA World Cup after not losing a single game in group and tournament play with Haliburton as the team’s top facilitator.

Final results:

1. United States

2. Mali

3. France

4. Lithuania

5. Russia

6. Puerto Rico

7. Serbia

8. Canada

9. Australia

10. Greece

11. Argentina