KU’s Taylen Kinney has off shooting night as Team USA finishes U18 pool play 3-0
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- Kinney started, played 16 minutes, scored three points and had three turnovers.
- Team USA defeated Brazil 84-62 to finish Group A pool play with a 3-0 record.
- The victory assured Team USA a spot in the tournament semifinals at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup.
Kansas Jayhawks freshman point guard Taylen Kinney’s USA Basketball Under 18 national team drilled Brazil 84-62 Thursday at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup tournament in Leon, Mexico.
The victory gave Team USA a 3-0 record in Group A play and assured the winners a spot in the tournament semifinals.
Kinney, a 6-foot native of Newport, Kentucky who played last season with the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta, struggled while starting and playing 16 minutes. He scored three points on 3-of-3 free-throw shooting.
He was 0-for-6 from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. He had three assists and three turnovers.
Kinney earlier scored 12 points with four assists in a 107-50 victory over Mexico on Tuesday and six points with five assists in an 88-58 win over Argentina on Monday.
Davion Thompson scored 16 points, Quentin Coleman 15 points with 12 rebounds, Colben Landrew 13 points with seven rebounds and Bruce Branch 12 points and 14 boards for Team USA.
Colben Landrew hit a driving layup to tie the game at 36-36 with two minutes left until halftime. The Americans led by two at the break.
“Our guys made a decision to flush the first half and to fix what we weren’t doing right,” USA head coach Anthony Grant said. “We had some adversity in the first half and then our character was revealed in the second half.”
Team USA outscored Brazil 21-11 in the third quarter.
“Brazil’s a great team and they came out and punched us in the mouth,” Coleman said. “We just had to come out in the second half and execute, and show what USA Basketball is, and that’s what we did. I just want to get a gold medal,” he added.
Team USA will meet either Brazil or Dominican Republic in Saturday’s semifinal at a yet-to-be-determined time.
This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 9:48 AM with the headline "KU’s Taylen Kinney has off shooting night as Team USA finishes U18 pool play 3-0."
