SHENZHEN, China — The 2011 USA Men’s Basketball World University Games Team topped the 100-point mark for the third time in as many games in cruising to a 112-68 victory over South Korea Monday at the World University Games at the Universiade Main Gym in Shenzen, China. The USA squad moved to 3-0 with the win, while South Korea fell to 1-2 as Irish forward Tim Abromaitis  finished with four points and five rebounds in nearly 14 minutes of action off the bench.
Outsized and overpowered, South Korea was no match for the USA team which featured six players in double figures and a 61-35 rebounding advantage.
The USA will continue play in the World University Games against Finland at 6 p.m. on Wednesday (6 a.m. in the United States) before wrapping up pool play against Israel at 3:30 p.m. (3:30 a.m.) on Thursday.
“South Korea gave us a different look,” said USA and Purdue University head mentor Matt Painter. “They had quickness at every single one of their positions. They were hard to handle. They were in constant movement. It was a good look for our guys to be able to handle that. They played a lot smaller than we play, so that was a little bit of a tough match-up. But I thought our depth and our overall strength and our ability to rebound really helped us.”
JaMychal Green was the game’s high scorer with 17 points and six rebounds, while Scoop Jardine (Syracuse/ Philadelphia, Pa.) added 16 points and three assists and two players finished with double-doubles. Trevor Mbakwe (Minnesota/ St. Paul, Minn.) scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Draymond Green (Michigan State/Saginaw, Mich.) finished with 12 points, 12 boards and four steals.
Rounding out the USA’s top scorers were Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh/Scotch Plains, N.J.) with 14 points and four assists and John Jenkins (Vanderbilt/ Hendersonville, Tenn.) with 12 points.
“We’re an unselfish team,” Jardine said. “We don’t have too many superstars. We have a lot of good players, a lot of older players who have played in college three years and when you have a core like that, everybody knows what it takes to win games, we’ve all played in big games and that’s what it’s going to take to win the gold medal.”
The USA’s size advantage led to 23 offensive rebounds and 64 points in the paint, allowing South Korea just 28 points from the key, and the U.S. offense shot a solid 54.9 percent from the field (45-82 FGs) as all 12 players recorded at least 10 minutes of action.
“It’s always great to sit down and know that the team out there is still going to play well,” JaMychal Green said. “We’re not losing anything. That’s always a great thing.”
Mingoo Kim tallied a team-high 12 points for South Korea.
Cuonzo Martin of the University of Tennessee and Brad Stevens of Butler University are serving as assistant coaches for the 2011 USA Men’s World University Games Team. In today’s other Pool D games, Finland (2-1) beat Hungary (0-3) 78-54, and Mexico (1-1) will play Israel (1-1) later this evening.
Following the preliminary round, the top two finishing teams from each pool will advance to the medal quarterfinals, which will be contested on Aug. 20. The semifinals are scheduled for Aug. 21, and the finals will be played on Aug. 22.