ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - What an opening day of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026 with some surprising games and thrilling finishes. Along the way we also saw some masterful performances.
Here are your top five performers from Day One.
Jokubas Kukta was a major force for Lithuania in their impressive 103-89 win over Canada as he flirted with a triple-double. The guard collected 29 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals to register an efficiency of 38.
How could you not include players from Türkiye's amazing double-overtime thriller as the hosts came back from 25 points down to beat New Zealand.
Turkish forward Darius Karutasu poured in 37 points with 11 rebounds and 3 steals for an efficiency of 37 in the 112-100 victory. His teammate Omer Kutluay meanwhile collected 39 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals for an efficiency of 33.
On the losing end of that game was Jayden Cecil of New Zealand, who scored 42 points to tie for third place all time in U17 World Cup history for points in a single game. He also picked up 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for an effiency of 25.
The other member of the top five is DJ Gaines of Puerto Rico. The whirlwind guard went scoreless in the first quarter against Slovenia, but he ended up scoring 32 points in Puerto Rico's 92-78 win. Gaines also had 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals in the win.
FIBA