Clemson (Team USA) cruised to a 99-70 victory over China Saturday in the Preliminary Round of the World University Games in Aversa, Italy.
The Tigers improved to 3-0 to win Pool C and now advance to the Medal Bracket Round which begins on Monday.
Clemson led by as many as 33 points against the Chinese, as it dominated the second half. After leading by three at the break, the Tigers outscored China 52-26 in the final two periods to blow the game open.
The Americans were led by Aamir Simms’ 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the field. He also had seven rebounds.
USA defeats China 99-70! 🇺🇸🤩😤 pic.twitter.com/BASSE7ZHHY
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) July 6, 2019
Tevin Mack added 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He was 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Curran Scott scored 12 points and was 7-for-8 from the foul line. John Newman scored 11 points on 3 of 5 shooting.
Clemson was 15-for-34 as a team from three-point range and shot 46.7 percent from the field overall. The Tigers were 24 of 37 from the charity stripe.
Team USA trailed the Chinese by seven points, 25-18, at the end of the first period. But Trey Jeminson’s two-handed dunk completed a 14-6 run to start the second and gave the Americans a 32-31 lead with 5:32 to play in the half.
Simms scored 12 of his 19 points in the opening half as Clemson led 47-44 at halftime.
The Tigers began the third period with 10-0 run to take control of the game. And by the time Chase Hunter drilled a three-pointer later in the quarter, Clemson had a 16-point lead at 68-52. The Tigers scored the last five points of the period to take a 21-point lead into the fourth.
In the final 10 minutes, Clemson extended its lead. Al-Amir Dawes’ triple later in the stanza gave the Tigers a 30-point lead, 87-57, with 6:26 to play.
The Tigers led by as many as 33 points, 93-60, following to Scott free throws with 3:18 to play.
The United States will play Germany in the quarterfinals on Monday at 5:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. ET) with the beginning of medal round play (final eight teams).