VIENNA, Austria (June 2, 2023) – The American men qualified for the 2023 FIBA 3x3 Men’s World Cup quarterfinals after a pair of decisive wins over Slovenia and host country Austria Friday night in Vienna. The USA is poised to play the winner of a play-in game between Switzerland and France on Saturday evening locally (time TBA).
At 4-0, the USA won Pool B, knocking off three opponents in 7:52 or less, including both on Friday.
As evening descended on Vienna, the United States earned a quick 21-14 victory over short-handed Slovenia, who had three players following an injury to their fourth earlier in the week.
Kareem Maddox iced the game with a free throw at the with 2:16 to play. Maddox finished the game with seven points, one rebound and two key assists.
The game was generally back-and-forth for the first several minutes before the red, white and blue started pulling away after a 6-2 spurt that saw the lead grow to 17-11 with 3:32 to play.
Dylan Travis led his squad with eight points (4-4 1FG, 4-6 FT) and three rebounds, all of which came on the offensive glass.
The U.S. made a point of sharing the ball, registering key assists on seven of their nine field goals, including two each from Maddox, Jimmer Fredette and Canyon Barry.
The final men’s pool play game featured the United States, Austria and 3,000 fans screaming loudly for their countrymen.
In an electric atmosphere, complete with cheers and jeers, Fredette quickly got the U.S. on the board en route to a game-high 13 points. Fredette, who is averaging 9.0 points (second-most among men’s players), hit four 2-pointers in the game while feeding off the crowd’s energy.
Trailing 8-7 with 6:29 to play, the U.S. ticked off a 12-1 run over two minutes to take a 20-9 advantage. Though the Americans conceded an Austrian run of seven-straight points, Barry closed the game with lay-up at the 2:08 mark for a final tally of 21-16.
On Saturday, before the men’s quarterfinal, the American women will face Japan for their own spot in the quarterfinals. The game will stream live at 7 a.m. ET on FIBA's 3x3 YouTube.
The 3x3 World Cup semifinals and championship are set for Sunday, June 4.
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A 'key assist' (KAS) is a pass that gives a teammate a positional advantage to directly score a field goal from the restricted area.