USA 88, Uruguay 77
The United States punched its ticket to the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup on Thursday night, defeating Uruguay 88-77 in Montevideo, Uruguay. The United States, which overcame a 14-point deficit, was led by Langston Galloway who scored 21 points. Xavier Moon contributed 17 points.
The U.S. is now 9-2 in World Cup Qualifying, with its final game set for Sunday night in Santa Cruz do Sul versus Brazil. To see the current standings for World Cup Americas Qualifiers, click here.
The full game box score and postgame press conference is available here.
TEAM NOTES
Qualified: With tonight’s win, the United States qualified for its 19th FIBA Men’s World Cup, which will take place Aug. 25-Sept. 10, 2023, in The Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. The U.S. will play all its games in Manila. The USA has won the World Cup five times, including in two of the last three editions.
To Start: Tonight’s starters were Langston Galloway, Abdul Gaddy, Elijah Pemberton, Deonte Burton and Jay Huff, marking the ninth different starting lineup that has taken the court for the United States during World Cup Qualifying.
Tale of Two Halves: After trailing by as many as 14 points late in the first half, the U.S. outscored Uruguay 59-36. Tonight’s was the largest deficit the team has overcome in a World Cup Qualifying game (11, vs. Cuba, 11/28/21). The U.S. used a 9-0 run to win the third quarter 30-17 and then broke the game open in the fourth quarter to lead by as many as 15. On the boards, the USA outrebounded Uruguay 14-12 in the second half.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: The United States had 20 assists to Uruguay’s seven. The U.S. leads the Americas with 21.6 assists per game.
Series Stats: With tonight’s win, the United States is 4-0 all-time vs. Uruguay in men’s World Cup Qualifying contests. The U.S. beat Uruguay 105-71 in August 2022.
PLAYER NOTES
Galloway Leads Again: With his team-leading 21 points vs. Uruguay, Galloway has now scored 10+ points in eight straight games. Galloway scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter as the USA took command of the game. Also of note, with four rebounds tonight, Galloway passes Jordan Bell (30) for the most career rebounds by an American in the current Men's World Cup Qualifying format (36 career).
To the Moon: Xavier Moon scored 17 points in his World Cup Qualifying debut, 11 of which came in the second half. Moon and Galloway combined for 28 of the team’s 59 second half points.
Supporting Cast: Nine of the USA’s players scored on Thursday night, with 47 points coming from the bench.
UP NEXT
The United States will square off with Brazil on Sunday at 7:10 p.m. ET in Santa Cruz do Sul. Brazil beat the U.S. in November in Washington D.C.
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A full game recap will be posted on usabasketball.com