USA Basketball: United States faces Canada in U19 FIBA World Cup semifinals
The USA U-19 men’s national basketball team has reached the medal round of the FIBA World Cup for the third straight year, where they will face Canada.
The UMNT U19 team remained undefeated in the 2017 FIBA World Cup with a 81-59 victory over Russia in Cairo, Egypt on Friday. This quarterfinal meeting marked the first time the Americans and Germans have met since 1983, when Germany scored the final six points of the game to earn an 88-87 upset victory. The U.S. (5-0) victory means that the red, white, and blue will finish in the top-four of the event for the 10th time.
“We don’t have any weak links on this team,” said USA coach John Calipari. “We just don’t. What I’m seeing right now is us pressuring them, and at some point, they will back off. Now, they (Germany) went zone, and it was bang, bang, bang with 3s.”
Auburn sophomore Austin Wiley led the way for USA with 19 points and 10 rebounds against Germany (3-2). Wiley, who scored seven points during the U.S.’s decisive third quarter run, was 9-for-15 from the field. Five of Wiley’s rebounds were on the offensive end.
The U.S. shot 45.3% from the floor and outrebounded Germany 47-37, including 17-12 on the offensive end. 6-foot-11 UNLV signee Brandon McCoy, the team’s second leading scorer, added eight points and seven caroms. In the meantime, Purdue’s Carsen Edwards contributed 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
The U.S. got off to a slow start as they trailed 12-11 following a Germany three-pointer. But USA closed the first quarter on a 7-2 run, which included a basket with two seconds remaining from Georgia Tech sophomore Josh Okogie.
Germany kept the game close in the second quarter and trailed 33-31 at halftime. The Germans, who outscored the Americans 11-5 at the end of the first half, opened the third quarter on a 6-2 spurt to take a 37-35 lead. The two-point deficit was the first time the U.S. trailed in the second half of the tournament.
The U.S. had an answer, however. Team USA outscored Germany 21-4 over the final 7:20 of the quarter to grab a 56-41 lead. With the Americans leading 56-41, Germany switched defenses to a zone at the start of the fourth. But it didn’t stop the U.S. offensive explosion as Oregon’s Payton Pritchard drained back-to-back three-pointers. Edwards then canned a triple to push the lead to 65-45.
USA will meet Canada on July 8th with the winner headed to gold medal game. The game will be available on ESPN3 and the ESPN App.
Canada is in the medal round of the U19 World Cup for the first time. Canada (4-1) defeated previously undefeated France (4-1) 73-67 behind ESPN’s 2019 top-ranked prospect R.J. Barrett’s game-high 27 points. Incoming Oregon freshman Abu Kigab produced a double-double with 17 points and 15 boards for the Canadians.
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The U.S. is 5-0 all-time in the World Cup versus their northern rivals. USA has defeated Canada by 20 or more points in each of those contests, which includes a 109-67 blowout victory in 2013. The teams did not meet in 2015. The Americans have captured the last two U19 World Cup titles, increasing their competition-leading gold medal count to six. The U.S. also has earned three silver medals.