Haliburton makes a major impact early in U19 FIBA World Cup

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Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton

Jack Shover

Playing on a team with several five-star recruits and collegiate players, Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton has made an early impact for the U.S. team at the U19 FIBA World Cup.

In two U.S. wins, Haliburton has played the most minutes of any player at the World Cup and has established himself as a top scorer and facilitator.

The U.S. won its first game of the World Cup on Saturday against New Zealand with a score of 111-71.

While Haliburton failed to score in double digits like five of his teammates, he still finished with eight points, eight assists and three rebounds on 3-6 shooting from the floor.

Reginald Perry paced the U.S. in scoring with 20 points, six rebounds and one assist.

Meanwhile, New Zealand only had three players with double digit points, and no player scored more than 14.

In the team’s following game against Lithuania on Sunday, Haliburton was tied for the most points in the game with teammate Cade Cunningham. Cunningham had 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 9-16 shooting, while Haliburton had 21 points, eight assists and one rebound on 8-9 shooting from the floor.

Haliburton played 35 minutes in the game, which the U.S. won 102-84.

Including Haliburton and Cunningham, the U.S. had six players with double-digit points.

Lithuania’s top offensive effort came from Erikas Venskus, who had 19 points (7-9 shooting) and five rebounds.

Through two games, Haliburton ranks first in the World Cup in average assists per game with eight and ranks 13th in average points a game with 14.5.

Haliburton and the U.S. team return on Tuesday against Senegal in their last game before bracket play begins.