Butler, who again drew a starting assignment, played 21 minutes for the U.S. team. His ten points came on 3-5 shooting from the field (1-3 from three-point range), and 3-4 from the tree throw line. He also had one rebound and two steals.
"Tonight's game was exactly what I thought it would be, and it's what we were very concerned with," said USA and University of Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan . "They sent a message. They are bigger and stronger inside. They are going to take it there, and they are going to try to shove it down our throats. When we try to do the same at the other end, we have to learn about the contact and what officials are going to call. The main thing is not to overreact to how a game is being called. It's a different game, and for some of our guys, the extra step really hurt. The Serbians really know how to use that. We were thinking we were in position to take a charge, and they took one more step to go by the defensive player."
Serbia was 39-46 from the free throw line, while the USA was just 21-32. The USA was also outrebounded by Serbia by ten at 39-29.
The round-robin Serbia International Invitational concludes on June 29 with the USA taking on Russia (12:30 p.m. EDT) and Serbia against Canada (3:00 p.m. EDT).
The United States is set to open World University Games play on July 3 against Finland (2:00 p.m. EDT) and faces South Korea on July 4 (2:00 p.m.). Second round action is scheduled for July 6-7, quarterfinals will be played July 9 and medal semifinals are slated for July 10. The gold medal will be contested on July 11 (3:00 p.m. EDT).