GWANGJU, Korea – In an epic battle of undefeated teams, the USA pulled together to beat Germany 84-77 in double overtime to win the gold medal of the 2015 World University Games (WUG) at Yeomju Indoor Gymnasium in Gwangju, Korea, Monday evening.

With the win, the USA (8-0), which consists mainly of University of Kansas student-athletes and staff, claimed its first gold in the World University Games since 2005 and its first WUG medal since a bronze in 2009. The USA has now won 14 gold medals in the World University Games which began in 1965. Germany fell to 6-1 in the 2015 Games.

“It’s a huge thrill, a huge honor,” USA head coach Bill Self said. “Our team really bonded and came together. To win it the way we won it – playing against a Germany team that outplayed us a majority of the game – we were dead tired, no legs, no lift, couldn’t make a shot and willed ourselves to win. I’m really proud of our guys and proud to be part of a very special event.”

USA guard Wayne Selden, Jr., hit a three-pointer off a feed from fellow guard Frank Mason III with 1:02 remaining in the second overtime to put the Americans up 78-77. USA crafty guard Nic Moore then stole the German inbounds pass, was fouled immediately and the SMU product drained both charity shots to put the Americans up, 80-77. Scrapping, Mason stole a Germany ball with 46 seconds and after being fouled made both free throws to put the game out of reach 82-77. Selden sealed the final score with another pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to play.

“We don’t want it easy,” Selden said of the come-from-behind victory for the gold. “They were a tough team. They battled down the stretch, but we never got down. We fought to the end. Frank was able to make some big plays and then he found me on the wing and I was able to make the big shot.”

Germany opened the first overtime on a 6-2 run to go up four at 72-68. USA pulled within one on a forward Perry Ellis drive and reverse lay-in to tighten the score at 72-71 with 38 seconds remaining. Following a Mathis Moenninghoff free throw by the Germans, Mason made another one of his driving layups to tie the contest at 73-73 with 9.5 seconds remaining and send the battle to its second overtime.

The game was tied at 54-54 heading into the fourth quarter and the two teams traded baskets for the first three minutes of the period with four lead changes. Germany built a five-point advantage at 64-59 with 4:29 to play, but then Mason scored five of USA’s final seven points, including two free throws with 21.7 seconds remaining to tie the score at 66-66 and send the contest into its first overtime. Ellis sandwiched in two free throws between Mason’s charity-tying shots.

“Coach just told me to stay aggressive and my teammates told me to stay aggressive – so that’s what I did,” Mason said of forcing the game in overtime and then a second one. “I went out and tried to make plays for them first, for me second. I made plays.”

Selden led all scorers with 22 points, while Ellis recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Mason scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the two overtimes. Mason and Selden each pulled down nine rebounds, which were one ahead of forward Landen Lucas’ eight. Mason also had a team-high six assists – with the one to Selden in the second overtime being the game changer. Moore ended the night with seven points, six rebounds and three steals, while forward Carlton Bragg, Jr. scored eight points for the Americans.

Down 2-0, USA went on a 14-0 run to open the game. Ellis scored USA’s first seven points in the run, while Mason made a floater and forward Hunter Mickelson a traditional three-point play. Mickelson ended the contest with seven points and five rebounds which included a pair of tip-ins during the second quarter. Late in the first quarter, Germany made seven free throws and guard Kevin Bright’s three-pointer as time expired narrowed the USA lead to 20-13 at the end of the period.

Selden opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, giving the USA a 10-point lead at 23-13. The Americans maintained the 10-point cushion until the 2:26 mark when guard Konstantin Klein made a three-pointer to chip away at the USA lead. With 20 seconds before half, Mason drove the lane off an offensive rebound to put USA up 38-31 but for the second-straight quarter, Germany made a buzzer beater. This time Hans Brase followed a three-point miss with a dunk and the USA held a 38-33 lead at intermission.

Germany seized the moment in the third quarter after USA built a 50-42 lead on a pair of Selden free throws. The Germans went on a 12-2 run to take a 54-53 lead on a Bright three-pointer. Mason made a free throw with 2.9 seconds to tie the score at 54 after three quarters, setting up the fantastic finish.

“This right here, it’s my first one of these,” Selden said of the gold medal around his neck. “We are really happy about these and we’re going to cherish this moment.”

— KU Sports Information —

GWANGJU, Korea – Guard Wayne Selden, Jr., scored 22 points and his last seven came at the most crucial juncture in USA’s 78-68 win against Russia in the semifinals of the 2015 World at Dongkang College Gymnasium Sunday.

With the win, the USA (7-0), made up mainly of University of Kansas student-athletes and staff, will play Germany (6-0) for the gold medal on Monday, July 13, at 9 p.m. local, which is 7 a.m. in Kansas, at Yeomju Indoor Gymnasium in Gwangju. Germany defeated Brazil, 59-49, in the semifinal contest just prior to the USA-Russia matchup.

Having won an all-time most 19 medals (13 gold, three silver and three bronze), the USA is looking for its first medal in the last three World University Games (WUG). USA finished ninth in the 2013 WUG and fifth in 2011. The last medal won by the American men’s basketball team was bronze in 2009. The previous USA medal was gold in 2005.

With the USA up 12 at 61-49, Russia went on a 13-0 run to take a 62-61 lead with 6:40 to play. Included was a half court three-pointer by Ivan Strebkov as time expired, giving the Russians momentum heading into the final period. Russia would score the first six points of the fourth quarter to take the 62-61 lead, then Selden took over. The Roxbury, Massachusetts, native first made a three-pointer over Russian 7-3 center Andrei Desiatnikov to give lead back to the Americans. Selden then made a layup on a fast break to put USA up four and regain the mojo.

“That’s something we’ve done the whole tournament, even against Canada,” Self said. “We get behind and our guys don’t panic. Certainly, when we got up by 10 and they (Russia) came back to take the lead, they had all the momentum and had some things go right to get back in the game. Then we locked in. Their ball movement wasn’t as good and they didn’t drive, pitch and create as many open looks as they did early, but we guarded. Then we had two individuals just play great down the stretch. Perry (Ellis) and Wayne were terrific.”

Guard Nic Moore finished a 6-0 USA run with a jumper in the lane. Following a Russian basket, forward Perry Ellis did one of his patented spin moves to give the USA a 70-64 with 4:50 to play. With Desiatnikov switching to guard Selden again at the three-point line, the 6-5 guard found room on the baseline and blew past the Russian for a monster dunk and the USA never looked back.

“My teammates found me,” Selden said of his crucial run. “I had the seven-footer on me both times, and I didn’t feel like he was able to guard me. He backed off the first time so I was able to shoot it. The second time he got a little closer so I had to drive it.”

Ellis found his groove and led all scorers with 23 points to go along with four rebounds. Selden’s 22 points marked his fourth 20-point effort in the seven USA contests at the World University Games. Moore ended the night with five points and four rebounds, while point guard Frank Mason III had 10 points, six rebounds four assists and three steals. He also drew six fouls for the game. Forward Landen Lucas ended the game with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting with five rebounds and two assists. Strebkov led Russia with 20 points.

“Attacking,” Ellis said of USA’s keys to defeating Russia. “We didn’t want to settle. Coach told us to keep attacking and that’s what we did. The key for me is to not get down. To not get down when I miss shots. My teammates were encouraging me the whole game to keep going.”

Russia built a six-point lead at 13-7 with just over four minutes left in the opening quarter, which included seven points by Stanis Ilnitskiy. The USA scrapped back and cut the lead to on at 15-14 on a Mason free throw. Russia lead 18-14 at the end of the first quarter on a Ilnitskiy three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the period.

Down 23-16, the USA used hustle and went on a 22-7 run which culminated with a steal and dunk by guard Lagerald Vick who ended the game with four points. Forward Hunter Mickelson scored all five of his game points during the run including a dunk and lay-in off a Mason miss causing a Russia timeout. The Russians did not back down and closed the quarter 9-4 run to give the Americans a 42-39 lead at halftime. Ellis kept Russia at bay down the stretch by scoring four of his 14 halftime points on turnaround baskets in the final minute of the half.

“If you’re in the game, you gotta win it,” Self said of playing for the gold medal. “It’ll be a great game for our players. I think before the trip if you would’ve asked me, ‘Hey if we can get to the medal round and have a shot at playing for the bronze? It would be a great trip.’ But here we are, our guys haven’t settled for that at all. To think that the team who started the tournament down 11 or 12 to Turkey in the first quarter, scared to death, and now we’re in attack mode. It’s fun to coach kids that are in attack mode.”

Self’s attackers have now earned themselves a chance to win the World University Games for their country, something the Jayhawks are not taking lightly.

“It feels great,” Selden said of USA playing for the gold. “I’ve never had this opportunity in my life and who knows when we’ll ever get this opportunity again, so we’re really going to seize the moment.”

UP NEXT

The USA team will play Germany Monday, July 13, at 3 p.m./9 p.m. local, which is 1 a.m./7 a.m. in Kansas at Gwangju University Gymnasium/Yeomju Indoor Gymnasium. The game will be televised on ESPNU and seen on the Watch ESPN app.

— KU Sports Information —

GWANGJU, Korea – For the first time in three World University Games, the USA will play for a medal as it defeated Lithuania, 70-48, in the quarterfinals Saturday at Dongkang College Gymnasium in Gwangju, Korea.

The USA, made up mainly of University of Kansas student-athletes and staff, went on a 25-2 run from the final minute of the third quarter to just over five minutes of the fourth period to outdistance Lithuania and advance to the semifinals against the winner of the Russia-Estonia quarterfinal, Sunday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m., 4:30 a.m. in Kansas, at Dongkang College Gymnasium. The last time USA played for a medal was when it won bronze at the 2009 World University Games, which are held every other year. USA finished fifth in 2011 Universiade and ninth in 2013.

“We played a bad third quarter, but we defended,” USA head coach Bill Self said. “Even though we only scored eight points in the third quarter, they only got 12. Then we go on a 25-2 run and it was because of defensive rebounding. We absolutely locked them up the last 13 minutes of the game. That was really a good display against a team that had been leading the tournament in scoring.”

With the score 43-42 with 1:04 left in the third quarter, USA guard Julian DeBose’s free throws started what would be an incredible run by the Americans. Guard Nic Moore made four of the first six points with two steals, resulting in a layup and a jumper. Guard Frank Mason III sandwiched in a traditional three-point play, forcing a Lithuania timeout with 8:38 to play and the USA up 52-42. Not two minutes later, Wayne Selden, Jr., drained a three-pointer off a forward Landen Lucas assist, forcing a second Lithuania timeout. Rolling, forward Perry Ellis dunked from another Lucas assist and Lucas then made a free throw to give USA a 58-42 lead at the 5:07 mark and Lithuania had yet to score in the period. Following a Lithuania basket by Paulis Dambrauskas at 4:44, the USA went on a 10-0 run en route to the victory.

Mason led USA with 18 points and four assists to go along with four steals. Moore had six steals to add to his nine points, while Lucas pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in scoring seven points. Ellis scored 11 points with six boards. Dambrauskas led Lithuania with 18 points.

“Everything starts with me – it’s starts with the point guard,” Mason said. “So I try to come out and do everything I can to get my team going. The guys did a great job of following and coming along.”

Lithuania took advantage of two USA turnovers and scored the first five points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 37-35 in favor of the Americans. With the USA up 39-37, no team scored for nearly three minutes until Mason stole the ball and raced in for a layup. On the next possession, Mason found Lucas for a dunk to give USA a 43-37 lead with 3:53 left in the period. Lithuania scored the next five points to cut the USA lead to 43-42 before DeBose drained the two free throws, his only points of the contest, to put the USA up 45-42 at the end of the period.

With the game tied at two the USA went on a 14-4 run highlighted by a Mason patented drive and lay in followed by a three-pointer and finished with a three-pointer by Selden off a Mason feed. Lithuania countered and would cut the lead to 23-18 after one period.

USA opened the second quarter with a 9-2 run with forward Hunter Mickelson capping it on a lay-in from Mason on a USA fast break which gave the Americans their largest lead of the game at 32-20 with 6:12 before intermission. Mickelson would end the contest with six points on 3-of-4 shooting and four rebounds. Lithuania was not fazed and cut the lead to seven twice including a steal and lay in by Rokas Giedraitis with 35 seconds remaining, which ended up being the halftime score at 37-30 in favor of USA.

“That’s what we came here for,” Lucas said about playing for a medal. “We still have two more games to focus on. Any medal besides gold and we’ll feel like we didn’t really accomplish what we wanted to. So we’re going for that gold.”

UP NEXT

The USA team will play the winner of the Russia-Estonia contest in the medal round semifinals on Sunday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m. local, which is 4:30 a.m., July 12, in Kansas at Dongkang College Gymnasium. The game will be televised on ESPNU and seen on the Watch ESPN app.

— KU Sports Information —