-UK senior guard/forward Darius Miller and Team USA completed group play with a 94-84 win over Israel on Thursday. Miller had seven points, one assist and one rebound as the Americans moved their unblemished record to 5-0, though they trailed 43-41 at halftime. As the No. 1 seed in Group D, Team USA advances to quarterfinal round on Saturday against Lithuania at 6 p.m. China Standard Time (6 a.m. eastern). You can also view a box score and a full recap at USABasketball.com. Below are a few quotes from Miller on the win:

Darius Miller (University of Kentucky)On today’s game:In the second half we came out with more energy. In the first half we played kind of sluggish, kind of slow. We didn’t get off to a really good start, but in the second half we picked it up, especially on the defensive end. I think that’s what made the difference.Is this a good type of game to get you refocused heading into the medal round?I definitely think we needed a game like this to get us prepared, make sure we’re still on the edge. It’s a good thing to see how it’s going to be in the medal rounds, because there won’t be any easy games in the medal round.On Israel:They did a great job of staying disciplined with everything they needed to do. They did a great job with helping each other on the defensive end and they executed every time on offense. We didn’t do a good job of staying disciplined and playing with a lot of energy.What’s life like in the village?It’s really fun, especially with these guys. We’ve grown pretty close. Having guys to spend it with like this, they’re all great teammates and I’m just having fun with it all.

-Former UK outfielder Collin Cowgill and his Arizona Diamondbacks faced the Philadelphia Phillies last night on ESPN. He started in left field and batted seventh in D’backs’ 9-2 loss, but Cowgill made a dazzling play on a deep drive by Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard that earned him the No. 9 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 list. I am unable to put the video on the blog, but click on this link to see the play.