Team USA came with more intent and force from the start in Tuesday's quarterfinal, bouncing back at Mall of Asia Arena to oust Italy 100-63 from the medal round.
Just obviously pissed off from losing and don't want have that feeling again," said U.S. guard Tyrese Haliburton, who had 18 points off the bench.
Team USA will get the winner of Germany-Latvia, who play Wednesday, in the semifinals on Friday. But Tuesday's other quarterfinal brought other interesting news as Lithuania
After having fallen behind by double figures in the first half in three of their five games in the tournament, American players and coaches emphasized the need to reverse that trend.
The Americans stretched the lead behind Mikal Bridges, who has been perhaps Team USA's steadiest player during the tournament.
Bridges, who has shown off the shot creation skills he has developed over the past two years in addition to his spot-up shooting in the World Cup, scored 14 of his 24 points in the first half to propel Team USA to a 22-point halftime lead.
Banchero played well off the bench with eight points and three rebounds in quality minutes. He also got to have a moment in the final seconds of the third quarter when Haliburton created a highlight