US routs Slovenia to reach FIBA SFs

Barcelona, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) – Klay Thompson had 20 points — one of six American scorers in double digits — and the United States pulled away in the second half on Tuesday to beat Slovenia 119-76 in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup.

The Americans shook off a slow start to post their highest point total so far and will face Lithuania in the semifinals on Thursday.

Kenneth Faried and James Harden added 14 points apiece, Anthony Davis scored 13 and Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving each had 12 in the win, which moved the Americans to 7-0 in the tournament.

Although they are winning games by an average score of 102-69, they’ve had to overcome slow starts several times.

Tuesday, they missed their first six shots from the field and led just 49-42 at halftime to a team they beat by 30 two weeks ago in their final exhibition game before the World Cup.

Harden scored 12 of his 14 points in the third quarter as the U.S. pulled away.

The Dragic brothers — Goran and Zoran — combined to score 24 points in the loss for Slovenia, which has lost to the U.S. in three straight World Cups by an average of 28 points.

Lithuania beat Turkey 73-61 earlier on Tuesday behind 19 points from Renaldas Seibutis and 12 points and 13 rebounds from Jonas Valanciunas.

France will play Spain and Serbia will face Brazil in the other quarterfinal games on Wednesday.

The U.S. beat Turkey in 2010 and is trying to win back-to-back World Cup titles for the first time.

Categorized in: NBA