Andrea Bargnani scores 22 for Italy, but Ukraine comeback ends winning streak

Andrea Bargnani had his best offensive game so far in Europe, but after being up by 26 in the first half, Italy failed to protect its lead and Ukraine won, 77-75, in the Adecco Cup friendly tournament in Koper Slovenia, Saturday.

Bargnani, who's shot consistently well without exploding in Italy's five previous games, finished with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting overall, including 2-of-5 from deep.  He led all scorers in the game and grabbed eight boards, also his best so far.  Here's his highlights, courtesy of Fabrizio Taffuri.

Marco Belinelli, now with the Kings, scored 21, and Denver's Danilo Gallinari had nine. Bargnani put Italy ahead for the last time with less than a minute left, but former Cal product Jerome Randle scored for Ukraine and Belinelli missed at the end.

In a tweet, Bargnani wrote ... "We must continue to work to put together 40 minutes of our basketball. Tomorrow another chance to improve."

Dobbiamo continuare a lavorare per mettere insieme 40 min. del nostro basket. Domani altra occasione per migliorare. pic.twitter.com/rZ5Ry6ResI

— Andrea Bargnani (@AndreaBargnani) August 22, 2015

It was the first loss for Bargnani or Bojan Bogdanovic in friendly games this summer. Italy plays host Slovenia Sunday to close out the tournament.  Eurobasket opens September 5 at locations across the continent.