Anthony Bennett has lived up to expectations with Canada’s men’s national basketball team at the Pan American Games. Murray and Team Canada will play the United States on Friday at 6 p.m. for the right to play in the Pan Am championship game.
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But the idea of Murray putting up the biggest numbers of all four, against what could have been Canada’s toughest test until the medal rounds, was not something I believe anyone expected, even if we knew he had it in him. Murray was held scoreless through the first three quarters, but then exploded for 14 points in the fourth.
There have been wins at the university level in the Leo Rautins/Jay Triano era/Jack Donohue era – in 1983 against a team that featured Charles Barkley and Karl Malone – and a year earlier at the World’s Fair (against a team that had Doc Rivers and Mitchell Wiggins), as well as in 2013 at the World University Games, but only in 2005 at the senior level at a major competition.
The future Kentucky Wildcat did not score a point until the fourth quarter.
“It means everything to be out here”, Murray said after the game on ESPN2. But the Americans erased a five-point halftime deficit and reeled off an 11-3 run fuelled by three straight three-pointers by Denzel Valentine to lead by seven.
Murray had eight points in overtime to seal the deal. He also grabbed the game-clinching rebound.
Murray’s 22 points came on 8-18 shooting, he was 4-8 from beyond the 3-point arc and dished out six assists.
Murray’s résumé was already mighty impressive before the Pan Am Games began.
Nicholson (Orlando), Bennett (Minnesota) and Sim Bhullar (Sacramento) are the only three players with National Basteball Association experience on Canada’s roster. Analyst Fran Fraschilla, commentating during Canada’s Wednesday win vs Argentina, said, “He doesn’t seem to be rattled by big moments”.
Murray, a 6-foot-5 guard from Kitchener, Ontario, was originally a member of the 2016 recruiting class but recently reclassified to the 2015 class. As a member of the 2016 class, Murray was rated a top-15 prospect by almost every recruiting service and tabbed a consensus five-star recruit.
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A big-time playmaker with great size, good ball-handling skills and a penchant for scoring in bunches, Murray is ranked the No. 10 overall player in the updated 2015 247Sports rankings and No. 12 in the 2015 Scout rankings. The teenager scored 30 points at the Nike Hoops Summit earlier this year in Portland. The competition is held among athletes from nations of the Americas.
