USA 76, BRA 83
The United States concluded qualifying for the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup on Sunday night, falling short to Brazil 83-76 in Santa Cruz do Sol, Brazil. The USA was led once again by Langston Galloway who tallied 19 points.
The U.S. finishes World Cup Qualifying with a 9-3 record. To see the standings for World Cup Americas Qualifiers, click here.
The full game box score and postgame press conference is available here.
TEAM NOTES
To Start: Tonight’s starters were Galloway, Abdul Gaddy, Elijah Pemberton, Deonte Burton and Jay Huff. This was the same starting group the U.S. deployed versus Uruguay on Thursday night. In all, the U.S. used 10 different starting lineups throughout World Cup Qualifying.
Never Giving Up: The U.S. weathered multiple runs by the Brazilians, including a 16-0 run that put Brazil up by 11 points early in the second quarter. The United States fought back to take a 40-39 lead with 8:59 remaining in the third quarter.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Ten different players tallied points in Sunday’s matchup. Galloway led with 19 points, followed by Huff, Xavier Moon and Reggie Perry, who all scored eight. Seven different players had at least one assist.
On the Boards: The teams were even on the glass, but the U.S. held a 15-8 advantage on the offensive rebounds, leading to 13 second-chance points, to Brazil’s four.
PLAYER NOTES
Galloway Leads Again: With his team-leading 19 points vs. Brazil, Galloway has now scored 10+ points in nine straight games for the red, white and blue. He was 7-of-14, including 5-for-11 from behind the arc.
Stealing the Show: In addition to his production in the points column, Galloway had four steals on Sunday night to bring his total to 10 during World Cup Qualifying, making him the United States’ all-time leading steals leader in World Cup Qualifying. The team recorded 10 steals on Sunday, which was the most of any team during this window, and one off the all-time team record (11 vs. Uruguay, 9/14/18).
Deep Dive: Craig Sword had eight points and three rebounds, but was second on the team in overall efficiency at +16 (Galloway, +21).
WRAPPING UP
Qualified: With Thursday’s win against Uruguay, 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. While the United States knows it will compete in Manilla for the duration of the tournament, the FIBA Men’s World Cup 2023 Draw will take place on April 29. The United States finished qualifying with a 9-3 record, the most wins in Group F.
It Takes a Village: All together, 52 different players represented the United States through six windows of qualifying, which began 455 days ago in November 2021. Players from 23 different NBA G League teams were represented. On the sidelines, head coach Jim Boylen was joined by seven assistant coaches throughout the qualifying period.
Globetrotters: Since November 2021, the United States has played games in nine different cities—Chihuahua City, Mexico; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Havana, Cuba; Las Vegas, Nevada; Barranquilla, Colombia; Washington D.C.; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil.
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A full game recap will be posted on usabasketball.com