USA Vs. Lithuania: Pitt's Ashton Gibbs And Americans Upset In World University Games, 76-74

It's not that we saw this coming, but after a close call against Israel a few days ago, it was easy to see that Team USA wasn't unbeatable.

Still, I would have predicted the Americans would come home with the gold medal. That won't happen now, after an upset loss to Lithuania, 76-74 in the World University games.

Team USA put itself in a tough position getting down by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter. They tied the game, but unfortunately, they missed their last five shots and took the loss.

Pitt's Ashton Gibbs had 16 for the team.

Coach Matt Painter made it seem like it was a bit about being outhustled:

"Lithuania was a little bit quicker to the basketball. They outrebounded us by about six. If you can pinpoint one area, probably the loose balls and a couple of those long rebounds probably ended up being the key to the game. That was something that we talked about. You got to give Lithuania credit. They did a good job of running down some long rebounds and being able to get the loose balls and in my opinion that was the difference."

Meanwhile, the women's team will play for the gold after defeating Australia, 79-67.

So just how rare of a defeat was this? For the first time ever, the U.S. is leaving without a medal:

The United States, which has claimed a medal in every World University Games since beginning play in 1965, has captured a record 13 golds, three silvers and three bronze medals in the 19 WUGs in which a USA Basketball squad has competed, and the U.S. owns a 131-8 record entering this year’s event.