Nico Mannion shines in Italy’s loss to Australia in Tokyo Olympics

Nico Mannion did everything he could to will Italy past Australia in the second game of group play at the Tokyo Olympics, but the Italians fell short in an 86-83 loss on Wednesday.

The current Golden State Warrior and former Arizona guard had 21 points, a game-high seven assists, three rebounds and only one turnover in 24 minutes.

Mannion was an efficient 9 for 15 from the field and sank some key baskets late. He drained a pull-up along the baseline to cut Australia’s lead to 82-79 with 23 seconds left, then drove the length of the court for back-to-back layups to cut the deficit to 86-83 with 4.3 seconds left.

Mannion is averaging 15.5 points, 7 assists and 1.5 rebounds through two games while shooting 53 percent from the field and 3 for 10 from 3. Italy is 1-1 with a win over Germany and loss to Australia. They return to action Saturday against Nigeria.

Australia has Josh Green, Mannion’s former AAU and Arizona teammate, but he hasn’t played much, logging just six minutes in two games at the Olympics. Green only played one minute against Italy and has not scored yet in Tokyo.

Australia is 2-0 with victories over Italy and Germany.