SAPPORO, Japan (AP) – With a record 35 points by Carmelo Anthony and first place in its group, the United States had plenty to celebrate Wednesday night.

Anthony scored 19 points in the third quarter, leading the Americans back from a 12-point deficit to beat Italy 94-85 – their toughest test yet in the world championships.

“That’s probably the toughest game we had in international play so far,” Anthony said. “We’re used to beating teams by 20, 25 points in the two previous games. You come into this game thinking, ‘OK, we’re going to try to beat them by 25.’ When we thought like that, they almost were up 25 in the first half.”

Playing extensive minutes with fellow captains Dwyane Wade and LeBron James after U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski was forced to scrap his two-unit rotation, Anthony went 13-of-18 from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

He broke the U.S. scoring record set by Kenny Anderson, who scored 34 points in a 1990 world championships game – for a team also coached by Krzyzewski.

“Carmelo was amazing,” center Elton Brand said. “He got hot, and he’s that type of scorer. He can shoot from anywhere.”

Wade added 26 points, helping the Americans (4-0) finally seize control for good midway through the fourth quarter with six points and an assist during a 10-2 spurt that gave the U.S. a 13-point lead.

The U.S. clinched the top seed in Group D and will face the fourth-place team from Group C on Sunday in the round of 16.

But the U.S. wasn’t the only team that walked off the floor with pride. The Italians gathered in a circle after the game ended and applauded themselves, knowing how close they had come to duplicating a victory over the U.S. in 2004.

“I’m very honored to coach this team,” Italian coach Carlo Recalcati said. “We tried to keep under control of the game for 40 minutes, but it was not possible. Every time we made a mistake they go and score easily.”

The Italians (3-1), done in by a five-minute stretch without a field goal in the third quarter, can still earn Group D’s No. 2 seed by beating Puerto Rico on Thursday.

But they were thinking bigger after controlling the first half to the delight of a group of fans chanting “Italia! Italia!”

“Against the U.S. you can’t rest at all,” Italy’s Mason Rocca said. “Third quarter we made some mistakes and they were able to capitalize on them.”

Marco Belinelli scored 25 points for the Italians, the 2004 Olympic silver medalists. They defeated the U.S. 95-78 in an exhibition game prior to those games.

The Italians were expected to take a step down from that level after turning to a younger team following a ninth-place finish in the 2005 European championships that forced them to need a wild card to qualify for these world championships.

They hit 30 3-pointers in their first three games, and the Americans tried to negate that by extending their defensive pressure farther from the basket. But the Italians took advantage with dribble penetration while working their offense expertly in the first half, when they shot 58 percent.

Brand scored the last five points of the first quarter as the U.S. took a 25-19 lead, but the Americans then made only two field goals in the second – and made matters worse by missing five of 12 free throws – during a dismal 11-point period.

The Italians capitalized with a 12-4 spurt to close the half, with Matteo Soragna scoring the final five points of the half to give Italy a 45-36 lead at the break.

The Americans, who came in averaging 115.3 points, shot only 39 percent in the first half.

Krzyzewski sent out James, Wade and Anthony together to start the second half with Brand and Chris Paul.

A three-point play by Belinelli 15 seconds into the half gave Italy a 12-point cushion. The Americans finally started running, battling back to seize a 53-52 lead when James found Wade down the floor for a basket to cap a 17-4 surge.

“We understood that we weren’t playing good at all. We weren’t playing the way the U.S.A. played,” Wade said. “We weren’t moving the ball. We weren’t getting after it defensively.

“We still were very confident. We just knew that we could play a lot better. After they went up 12, we came on and really played the way we play, and that is getting out on the fast break and playing defense.”

The U.S. gets a breather Thursday, facing winless Senegal (0-4) in its final game of pool play.