One day after Rutgers guard Mike Rosario dropped a career-high 54 points on France, the U.S. held him to 11 points in an 82-61 victory in the FIBA U19 World Championship in New Zealand.

Howard Thompkins (14 points, 9 rebounds) and Gordon Hayward (11 points, 7 rebounds) led the way for the USA, and Duke guard Seth Curry (pictured) scored 9 points. Pitt guard Ashton Gibbs and Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor, both New Jersey natives, added 8 points apiece.

Fordham guard Jio Fontan led Puerto Rico with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting and dished 4 dimes.

Rosario went 4-of-15 from the field, but struggled mightily with the tough U.S. perimeter defence.

“Puerto Rico’s a good team and we really wanted to step up to the challenge of guarding (Rosario),” Hayward said. “He is a great player and scored 54 the night before so we really didn’t want to let that happen again.”

With a 5-0 record, the USA is already into the quarterfinals, and cannot lose top position in Group E regardless of their clash with Lithuania Wednesday at the North Shore Events Centre.

Puerto Rico has three wins, and can move through to the quarters with a win over Egypt tomorrow morning at ASB Stadium.

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(Courtesy FIBA)