Two Iowa State basketball players won gold medals at the FIBA U19 World Cup – Ashley Joens for the women’s team and Tyrese Haliburton for the men’s team.

Haliburton established himself as one of the best facilitators at the World Cup, while Joens had trouble finding footing with the women’s team.

The U.S. men’s roster consists of seven five-star recruits from the high school classes of 2019 and 2020 and five college players including Haliburton and is coached by Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber.

In the last Men’s World Cup in 2017, the U.S. lost in the semifinals to Canada, which had Lindell Wigginton and RJ Barrett on the roster. Canada captured the gold medal while the U.S. finished with bronze.

Over the course of the U.S. men’s games, Haliburton has averaged 8.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists. His assists per game is the highest of any player of the World Cup, as is his assist-to-turnover ratio, which is also 6.7.

While Haliburton failed to average 10 points scored a game, he shot 81.8% on two-point shots and 58.8% of three-point attempts.

Haliburton’s top performance came in the group stage against Lithuania when he finished the game with 21 points and eight assists. During the game, he shot the ball nine times and only one of those shots failed to find the bottom of the basket.

During the men’s games, the Americans have outscored their opponents 613-426. The closest game the U.S. had is a 95-80 win over Russia in the quarterfinals of the World Cup’s tournament.

With the U.S. U19 FIBA World Cup team, Haliburton proved he was one of the best young distributors not only in the United States, but in the world.

While Haliburton managed to carve out a major role for the U.S., Joens, at the Women’s World Cup, failed to find much of a role with the team.

Joens was originally an alternate for the team but was called up once another player had been injured prior to the team leaving Colorado Springs, Colorado for Thailand.

Joens captured the gold medal with the team but only averaged 2.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.3 assists a game. Of her shots, 59.2% of them were from 3-point range and only converted 12.5% of those shots.

It was the second summer Joens won a gold medal with the U.S. after winning one at the FIBA Americas in 2018. During the competition, she was a captain and was the second leading scorer on the team with averages of 10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

Heading into the 2019 season, Joens and Haliburton will both be vital parts on their teams, not to win a gold medal, but a Big 12 Championship trophy.