The United States routed the Dominican Republic at Madison Square Garden last month. (Getty)
The United States blew out the Dominican Republic in an exhibition game last month at Madison Square Garden. Wednesday, the Americans are hoping to replicate the result.
Team USA takes on the Dominicans Wednesday in its fourth game of FIBA World Cup group play in Bilbao, Spain.
Here’s what you need to know.
How to Watch on TV & Online
(WatchESPN.com)
TV: ESPN2 has the coverage starting at 3:30 p.m.
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: If your cable subscription includes ESPN, you can watch the live stream of the game online for free at WatchESPN.com. You’ll need your cable log-in and password, or the log-in and password of someone you know.
HOW TO WATCH ON MOBILE: Mobile and tablet users can watch the game for free on the Watch ESPN app. As is the case with desktop, you’ll need the log-in for a cable subscription with access to ESPN. You can download the app for free in the App Store , the Google Play store, the Amazon App store or the Windows Store.
About the Game
The Houston Rockets’ Francisco Garcia is the Dominican Republic’s leading scorer. (Getty)
The game is a rematch of an August 20 exhibition at Madison Square Garden that the United States won in a 105-62 rout.
The Dominicans are 2-1 in Group C, tied for second place in the group and a game behind the U.S., which is 3-0. The team is loaded with players who played collegiately in the United States, including former Louisville star Francisco Garcia, who now plays for the Houston Rockets.
Garcia is averaging a team-high 21 points. Guard James Feldeine, who played at Quinnipiac, is averaging 9.7 points. Eloy Vargas, who played at Kentucky, is averaging 8 points and 9 rebounds, as is Eulis Baez, who played at Western Illinois.
Orlando Antigua, who coached on John Calipari’s staffs at Memphis and Kentucky for the past six years and was recently named the head coach at South Florida, is the Dominicans’ coach.
Heavy’s Pick
United States 102, Dominican Republic 78
The Dominicans have played well so far in the tournament and have a good chance to be one of the four teams in Group C to advance out of group play. They’re well-coached and have more athleticism than most teams. They’re good enough to keep this close for a while, and we like their chances to make the game more competitive than last month’s exhibition.
But as has been the case in every other U.S. game this summer, the Americans will win comfortably.
