LOGAN, Utah – Utah State junior guard Max Shulga, playing for his native Ukraine at the FIBA U20 European Championships, will lead his team into the Round of 16 in the tournament when Ukraine faces Turkey on Wednesday, July 20, at 6:15 a.m. (MT). The tournament continues on Thursday, July 21, with quarterfinal action. Fans can watch the games via YouTube with links available online at: https://www.fiba.basketball/
Shulga opened the tournament with a bang, recording team highs of 26 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, while shooting 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the floor and connecting on 10-of-15 at the free throw line. Despite the performance, Ukraine lost its opening game 98-86 in overtime to the Czech Republic.
In Ukraine’s 71-69 victory over Lithuania, ranked No. 7 in the world by FIBA, Shulga finished second on the team with 15 points and added six rebounds, four assists and a game-high two blocks. Shulga was a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line, sinking a pair from the charity stripe with less than 25 seconds to play to cement the win for Ukraine.
Shulga was held to single digits for the first time in the tournament in Ukraine’s 89-58 loss to Spain in the final contest in pool play, turning in six points and adding four assists and one rebound.
Ukraine’s opponent, Turkey, went 2-1 in pool play, beating Germany (66-65) and Poland (54-53) by one point apiece and losing to host Montenegro, 77-70. Turkey features another player from the Mountain West in San José State’s Tibet Gorener, a sophomore forward, who appeared in 30 games for the Spartans a season ago.