Marquette Basketball At The 2016 Rio Summer Olympics: 8/8/16

Only two games to check on, as the two men’s teams with former Golden Eagles played each other on Monday.

By Brewtown Andy@brewtownandy Aug 9, 2016, 8:45am CDT

Olympics: Basketball-Men's Team-Preliminary Round USA vs VEN — Jimmy Butler doing Jimmy Butler things.

Women’s Basketball

Canada 71, Serbia 67 - This game lived up to the old adage that basketball is a game of runs. After Serbia used multiple runs to take a 18 point lead early in the second half, Canada blasted back with an 11-0 run to make it close in the third quarter and then another 11-0 run to open the fourth to make it a one point game.

Serbia held on, though, at least until the final few minutes. Kim Gaucher buried a corner three to give Canada their first lead since the beginning of the game with 2:36 to play and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe stuck a putback in the final minute to lock up the win for the Canadians. Kia Nurse led all scorers with 25 points for the Canadians, while Jelena Milovanovic had 19 points to lead Serbia.

Katherine Plouffe played 13 minutes, but was only a minor player in the box score. She made one of her two shots to finish with two points, but she did tack on two rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

Men’s Basketball

United States 113, Venezuela 69 - After one quarter, the game was tied at 18 all. At halftime, the United States national team had a 48-26 lead and never looked back. Well, maybe they looked back a little in the third quarter, as Venezuela played the U.S. fairly even in a 27-25 period. Still, at the end of the frame, the Americans were up by 24, so maybe not.

Paul George led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including a 3-for-4 outing from long distance. John Cox had 19 points to lead Venezuela in the losing effort.

David Cubillan started the game for Venezuela and scored 10 points in 18 minutes of action. He also chipped in two rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Jimmy Butler came off the bench for the United States for 17 points and was one of five players scoring in double digits. Butler made his impact largely at the free throw line, knocking down all eight of his attempts.

Up Next

Wednesday, August 10

All times Central

3:45pm: Canada vs Senegal
5pm: USA vs Australia
8:30pm: Venezuela vs China