Indiana Basketball: Targets Win Gold For USA U18 Squad
Two of IU's 2019 targets helped USA's U18 team to a gold medal in the FIBA America's event.
Both Center Grove five-star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis and John Marshall five-star forward Matthew Hurt played significant roles for the team in the tournament, with the squad finishing 6-0 overall and defeating Canada 113-74 in the gold medal game.
Jackson-Davis only played five minutes in the victory over Canada, but Hurt played 25, finishing the game with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
"The selection committee does a good job on educating us on what wins, especially in international play and FIBA rules," Kansas/USA head coach Bill Self said. "We knew we had some alphas personality-wise, and we knew probably who would be our leading scorers and stuff, so we probably surrounded them with guys that could really play but were also okay with them being the leading scorers.
"And, I think that did help our team."
32 athletes initially tried out for the team in Colorado, before that list was trimmed first to 18, then a final 12.
Here's a game-by-game look at how the two targets played in the event.
Jackson-Davis:
· Vs. Dominican Republic: Four minutes, two points and two rebounds in 103-75 win.
· Vs. Panama: 18 minutes, 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting, two rebounds in 118-26 win.
· Vs. Puerto Rico: Nine minutes, five points and four rebounds in 115-71 win.
· Vs. Ecuador: 23 minutes, 20 points on 10-of-10 shooting, 11 rebounds in 132-55 win.
· Vs. Argentina: 10 minutes, two points and one rebound in 104-92 win.
· Vs. Canada: Five minutes, one rebound in 113-74 win.
Hurt:
· Vs. Dominican Republic: 22 minutes, 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting, nine rebounds in 103-75 win.
· Vs. Panama: 19 minutes, eight points and eight rebounds in 118-26 win.
· Vs. Puerto Rico: 22 minutes, 12 points and one rebound in 115-71 win.
· Vs. Ecuador: 18 minutes, 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting and three rebounds in 132-55 win.
· Vs. Argentina: 27 minutes, 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and eight rebounds in 104-92 win.
· Vs. Canada: 25 minutes, 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, three rebounds in 113-74 win.
In total, Jackson-Davis averaged 11.5 minutes, 6.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, finishing the event 19-for-22 (86 percent) from the field.
Hurt averaged 22.2 minutes, 14.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
The two will return home to continue play on their respective national AAU circuits this summer. Jackson-Davis plays for Indy Heat on Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League circuit, while Hurt plays for D1 Minnesota on adidas's circuit.
Jackson-Davis averaged 25 points, nine rebounds and four blocks per game as a junior, earning core Indiana Junior All-Star honors and was named second team All-State by the Associated Press and USA TODAY.
Hurt averaged a state-best 33.9 points per game, in addition to 15 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 3.6 assists per game as a junior, leading John Marshall to a 26-3 overall record and earning first team All-State honors in Minnesota for the second straight season
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