On Sunday, the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup wrapped up, with Team Canada winning in the title game over Team Italy.
The tournament, which took place from July 1 to 9, was of particular interest to Maryland. Kevin Huerter and Joshua Tomiac both played in the tournament, representing USA and Spain respectively. Huerter and Tomiac even played against each other in the bronze medal match, a game won by Team USA, 96-72.
The chance to represent their countries provided a valuable chance for both Huerter and Tomiac to get more experience playing competitive basketball.
Team USA was composed of a mix of athletes who had already played a season of college basketball like Huerter and Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, as well as players entering their freshman and those about to be high school seniors.
Huerter averaged 14.2 minutes per game in the tournament’s 40-minute games. He struggled with his shooting in the tournament, hitting only 38 percent of his field goals and only 15 percent of his threes, both notable drop-offs from his performance with the Terps last season. Huerter’s best performance came in the group stage, when he scored eight points and dished four assists facing Team Italy.
Team Spain featured a mix of athletes playing for American colleges like Tomiac and people who were on European teams like Barcelona.
Tomiac averaged 21.1 minutes per game — the second-highest playing time on his team. Tomiac was 36 percent from the floor and his five rebounds per game were second on the team. In the group stage against eventual champions Team Canada, Tomaic scored 10 points and hauled in seven boards.
