Team USA will play Mali in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup final on Sunday at Heraklion Indoor Sports Arena in Heraklion, Greece.
The game is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. ET. It won’t be on regular TV in the United States, but you can watch the game live on ESPN+, the digital streaming service from ESPN that has exclusive coverage of the U19 Basketball World Cup and other sporting events, plus all the 30-for-30 documentaries and other original content for $4.99 per month.
You can sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of USA vs Mali in the U19 Basketball World Cup final on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
USA vs Mali U19 World Cup Final Preview
The United States, led by Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber, blasted Lithuania 102-67 in the semifinals behind a game-high 18 points from Jalen Green, a shooting guard in the high school class of 2020 who’s presently weighing offers from college powerhouses like Kansas and Kentucky.
Lithuania managed just three made field goals in the opening quarter as Team USA built a 25-14 lead.
“We talked about having great energy from the start,” Weber said, according to the official USA Basketball website. “I thought our defense was good and kind of set the tone for the whole first half. We held them to 32 (points) in the half and they’re a very good offensive team.”
Green went 4-of-10 from downtown. Kira Lewis Jr., who averaged 13.5 points and 2.9 assists per game as a freshman at Alabama in 2018-19, shot 3-of-3 from deep against Lithuania and finished with 11 points.
Villanova commit Jeremiah Robinson-Earl scored 13 points to go with 10 rebounds. Reggie Perry, a big man who put up 9.7 points and pulled down 7.2 rebounds per contest as a Mississippi State freshman last year, collected a game-high 14 rebounds.
“We knew 3s would maybe the difference in the game,” Weber said, per the USA Basketball website. “We didn’t hit many (3s) early, they just kept sagging back. We had talked about it and we knew they were going to do it, I just think guys were trying to prove things instead of moving the ball, working in, shooting in rhythm 3s.
“Kira Lewis Jr. is a veteran guard that’s been through it and he can shoot it, and he stepped up big for us tonight. Also, our big guys, Jeremiah (Robinson-Earl) and Reggie (Perry), both of them were in double figures for rebounds, and Jeremiah had a double-double.”
Team USA has won the FIBA U19 World Cup a record six times. In 2017, they settled for third place after falling to Canada in the semis.
In the same tournament, Mali lost all seven of their contests, finishing dead last. This year, after going 2-1 in group play, they ran through New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and France to reach the final.
Oumar Ballo, a center who’ll join Gonzaga next season, dropped 17 points to go with 11 rebounds and four blocks in the 76-73 victory over France. He’s averaging 18.3 points and 13 rebounds per contest in the tournament, ranking seventh and first, respectively.
“This is a historic victory for us,” Ballo told the official FIBA website. “We have been preparing this for a long time. Tomorrow is another game and we will be ready to play tomorrow. We want to make all of our parents proud of us.”
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How to Watch USA vs Mali U19 Basketball World Cup Final in US