USA Lose to Argentina, 82-73, in AmeriCup Semifinal

11 September 2022

USA 73, ARG 82

The USA AmeriCup Team fell in the semifinals to Argentina, 82-73, today at the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup at Geraldo Arena in Recife, Brazil. The U.S. will compete for bronze Sunday against the loser of Brazil vs. Canada. This year marks the 10th time the USA has competed at the FIBA AmeriCup.

In Saturday's game, the U.S. faced an undefeated Argentina team. Since 1992, the U.S. had won 10 of their previous 12 matchups and two of their last three matchups in an AmeriCup semifinal (1993, 1999) against Argentina.

The two teams traded leads through the first frame, but a 10-0 run at the start of the second gave Argentina their first double-digit lead of the game and momentum that would carry them to a seven-point lead going into the half.

In a hard-fought game for the Americans, they would momentarily take one-point leads in the third and fourth quarters, but in the end Argentina outlasted the U.S. with timely runs and an advantage at the free throw line.

The full game box score is available here.

TEAM NOTES

Revered Reserves: The U.S. outscored Argentina's bench, 33-13. Zylan Cheatham (10) helped lead the charge for the reserves' scoring output, finishing as the leading scorer off the pine.

Second-Chance Points: The U.S. finished with 12 second-chance points compared to Argentina's 10 second-chance scores. The team was one point shy of tying its tournament-best of 13 set against Venezuela (9/6/22).

Free Throws: The U.S. was outscored at the free throw line, 24-7. The U.S. shot 70.0% (7-10) while Argentina converted on 82.8% (24-29) of their free throw attempts. Argentina's Gabriel Deck accounted for half of the team's free throw production, finishing 12-of-13 (92.3%) from the charity stripe while setting new tournament-highs for makes and attempts from a player.

PLAYER NOTES

Good to Great: Norris Cole recorded four points in the first half, but much like his performance against Puerto Rico came out firing in the second half. Cole finished with a team-high 18 points (7-11 FG, 2-6 3FG, 2-2 FT), eight of which he scored consecutively in the fourth (7:35-5:12) to help the USA fight for a win. The U.S. guard ranks first in 3-point shooting (53.6%) amongst players with 3+ attempts per game and third in field goal percentage (60.0%).

Z-13: Cheatham finished with 10 points (4-10 FG), a team-high eight rebounds and one block through 26 minutes. The game was his second-straight scoring in double figures.

Floor General: Jeremy Pargo logged a team-high eight assists to go along with eight points, three rebounds and a steal. His eight assists are the most by an American this week.