University of North Texas Athletics
Mitchell Leads USA In Rebounding In Tuneup
6/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Mitchell was 1-of-3 from the floor for five points in the 108-75 loss to the hosting Lithuanian squad. The Dallas Pinkston product also tallied a block and a steal in 16 minutes.
"At the end of the first quarter we had turnovers that led to three straight 3s and that got them going, got the crowd going and they played very well from there," said USA head coach Paul Hewitt (George Mason). "We've got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball; we've got to do a better job on the boards. We didn't rebound as consistently as I would have liked tonight and turnovers led to too many extra chances for them. They're a very good basketball team. I think we are improving. I do think we have time to continue to improve. I saw some good things tonight, hopefully we'll keep moving forward."
Seven-foot center Jonas Valanciunas, who was the No. 5 pick by the NBA's Toronto Raptors in last week's draft, led Lithuania with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Sixteen nations will battle for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship from June 30-July 10 in Valmiera, Liepaja and Riga, Latvia. The U.S. squad's preliminary round play opens June 30 (8 a.m. Central) in Liepaja against Egypt, followed by Serbia on July 1 (8 a.m. Central), and the USA squad will conclude preliminary play versus China on July 2 (10:15 a.m. Central).
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