https://texastech.com/news/2019/7/1/mens-basketball-moretti-named-to-italys-world-cup-team.aspx
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech's Davide Moretti has been named to Italy's expanded list of 24 players for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China along with NBA players Marco Belinelli and Danilo Gallinari.
Moretti is coming off a sophomore season where he earned Big 12 Conference Third-Team and NCAA Elite 90 honors and led the nation with a 92.4 free-throw percentage (97-for-105). Moretti helped Tech advance to the NCAA National Championship Final and Big 12 regular-season championship in a season where he averaged 11.5 points and 2.4 assists per game. In conference play, he was 69-for-129 (53.5 %) from the field, 46-for-86 (53.5 %) and 54-for-58 (93.1 %) from the free-throw line and led Tech for the season with 73 3-pointers.
Italy will face a difficult campaign in China where they will compete in Group D with Serbia, Angola and Philippines and must finish in the top two to advance to Second Round Group J, where they would meet the first two teams that come out of a Group C that is made up of Spain, Tunisia, Iran and Puerto Rico. Italy coach Meo Sachetti also added European-based veterans Luigi Datome, Nicolo Melli and European Qualifiers star Amedeo Della Valle.
A top-two finish in that Second Round pool would be required to progress to the Quarter-Finals.
Italy last played at a FIBA Basketball World Cup 13 years ago in Japan. They have not reached the podium at a major event since claiming the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics.
Throughout the NCAA Tournament, Moretti averaged 11.3 points per game with nine 3-pointers and was 13-for-15 at the free-throw line. After two seasons and 75 games played at Tech, he has now scored 566 points, has made 99 career 3-pointers and is 121-for-133 (91.0 %) from the free-throw line. He has represented Italy at six FIBA events which include 2013 U16 European, 2014 U17 World, 2014 U16 European, 2015 U18 European, 2016 U20 European and 2017 U20 European Championships.
