The United States will take on Mali in a rematch of last year’s surprising championship game at the FIBA U-19 World Cup on Saturday.
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If you live in the US, you can watch USA vs Mali and every game of the tournament live on ESPN+ right here:
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You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
USA vs Mali U-19 Preview
The United States opened its title defense at the FIBA U-19 World Cup with a dominant 83-54 win against Turkey. Jaden Ivey led the way for the Americans with 21 points, with highly-touted prospect Chet Holmgren adding 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Holmgren, the nation’s top high school recruit in the class of 2021, will play for Gonzaga. TCU and Team USA coach Jamie Dixon said that the 18-year-old brings a very unique skill set to the table.
“He’s got a very unique game. He’s very coachable,” Team USA head coach Jamie Dixon said of Holmgren. “He seems to be very grounded in how he prepares and how he moves about with his teammates. He’s also a tough kid — a lot tougher than what you would think his frame would allow him to be. He loves the game, loves to play.”
Holmgren called the national team selection the top honor of his packed year and is looking forward to capturing the gold with the United States.
“Whatever they’re trying to do, we’re trying to do the same thing. They might be coming for me or USA’s team ‘cause of what’s on our jersey or what’s being said about our name, but we’re doing the same thing. We’re trying to come out and compete and win gold. With that, you’ve got to go at people.”
The surprise of the tournament in 2019 was runner-up Mali, a country that had never finished better than 11th place. Mali lost its first match against Australia after falling behind after a big third quarter from the Aussies.
Oumar Ballo was the standout for Mali, which became the first African nation to make it to the U19 final. Ballo averaged 17.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 3. 8 blocks.
“We’re not going to be overambitious. But we’re really eager to bring back the trophy this time,” Mali coach Alhadji Dicko told the official FIBA Basketball site. “Two years ago, USA got the better of us. Now is the time to show that we can at least repeat what we did in Greece.
“It’s all about being physically prepared and being homogeneous. We had twelve players who could get in the game at any time. And now, it’s time to show that African players have nothing to lose when playing at this level. Seeing that so many of them are playing around the world only confirms that we have the talent and whatever else it takes to make it to the top.”