OSU Commit Marcus Smart Leads USA To Gold

Oklahoma State commit Marcus Smart helped the USA team to gold at the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championships Wednesday night.

Smart scored 10 points and tallied a tournament-high six steals in the 81-56 win over Brazil.

The incoming Oklahoma State freshman played a team-high 24 minutes in his fifth start for the USA team, and was 4-of-8 from the floor, including 1-of-2 from beyond the three-point arc. He also connected on 1-of-2 free throws and grabbed three rebounds.

Smart tallied 20 assists and 18 steals in the five-game tournament. His 18 thefts surpassed the five-game record of 16, set by Andre Iguodala in 2002.

Smart is also one of just four Americans to record 20 or more assists in the five-game tournament, joining Kemba Walker (25 in 2008), Kyrie Irving (21 in 2010) and Jonny Flynn (21 in 2006).

The gold medal is the USA U18 team's sixth at the FIBA Americas Championship. This year's squad defeated its opponents by an average of more than 38 points per game. The victory also assures the Americans will participate in the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championships next summer.