Future Kansas University basketball guard Conner Frankamp scored 17 points in the United States’ 116-47 rout of China on Wednesday in the final preliminary-round game of the FIBA Under-17 world championships in Lithuania.
Frankamp, a 6-1 senior from Wichita North, hit seven of 15 shots, including three of seven three-pointers. He added three rebounds with two assists and a turnover in 23 minutes.
“It’s really nice to have our depth,” Frankamp said of the (5-0) U.S., which had seven players score in double figures. “You can work as hard as you can out there and then somebody will come in for you and do the same thing you did. There’s no letup.”
Stephen Domingo had 16 points, followed by Stanley Johnson (15), BeeJay Anya, Kendrick Nunn and Jahlil Okafor (13) and Justise Winslow (12). Tyus Jones had 11 assists.
“I think both of those things were why we played so well,” Frankamp said of being fired up on the Fourth of July as well as wanting to make a statement heading into the medal round.
The U.S. will meet Canada (2-3) in Friday’s quarterfinals. The game, to start at 7:45 a.m., Central time, is available online at FIBATV.com.
“Our offense will come. We just have to keep playing hard on defense,” Frankamp said after holding China, a team that was averaging 66.2 points a game, to under 50.
Other teams advancing to the medal round: Australia (4-1), China (3-2) Czech Republic (2-3), Croatia (5-0), Spain (3-2) and Argentina (2-3).
Adams in town: Anrio Adams, a 6-3 combo guard from Seattle’s Rainier Beach High, did indeed arrive Wednesday for the second session of summer school. All six of KU’s incoming scholarship players are now in town attending class while preparing for the Aug. 6-14 trip to Switzerland and France.
Kaun’s team 2-0: Former KU center Sasha Kaun, a starter on Russia’s national team, scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in an 84-69 win over Dominican Republic Wednesday at the Olympic qualifying tournament. Russia, 2-0, is trying to finish in the top three of 12 teams to advance to the 2012 London Olympics.
