Arizona's Bennedict Mathurin and Canada will face USA in a U19 World Cup semifinal of undefeated teams Saturday in Riga, Latvia.
The game will tip off at 8 a.m. Arizona/Pacific Daylight time (10 hours behind Latvia) and will be carried on ESPN Plus in the United States.Β
On Friday, Mathurin had just three points and three rebounds but Canada still edged Spain 81-77 to reach the semifinals and improve to 5-0 overall.Β
USA beat Senegal 88-56 to reach the semifinals and has won all five of its games by at least 21 points. But Canada beat USA the last time they met in the U19 World Cup, 99-87 in 2017, and may have its best-ever U19 team this season.
While USA Basketball's U19 team has a long list of talent led by potential lottery pick Chet Holmgren and Purdue guard Jaden Ivey, Canada has Mathurin, Michigan-bound wing Caleb Houstan, Purdue center Zach Edey, Creighton-bound guard Ryan Nembhard and five-star class of 2023 guard Elijah Fisher.
Meanwhile, Arizona's two other participants, Azuolas Tubelis (Lithuania) and Oumar Ballo (Mali) have been knocked out of the championship bracket. Mali is 0-5 after a 71-59 loss to Iran on Friday while Lithuania lost 84-79 to France in a quarterfinal game Friday despite Tubelis' 19 points and 13 rebounds.
On Saturday, Mali will play Japan at 4:30 a.m while Lithuania will face Argentina at 5 a.m.
