Arizona guards Filip Borovicanin and Kylan Boswell both helped their junior national teams survive scares in FIBA U19 World Cup games Sunday in Debrecen, Hungary.
Borovicanin had 15 points and seven rebounds, with four points in the final three minutes, to help Serbia edge Brazil 74-72. The Wildcats' returning sophomore started for Serbia and played 24 minutes, shooting 6 for 19 from the field and missing all five 3-pointers he took.
Toward the end of a tight game throughout, Borovicanin drove inside for a layup to tie it at 67 with 2:40 to go. He also drew a foul while hitting a layup to give Serbia a 73-70 lead with 44 seconds left, though he missed an ensuing free throw and a jump shot with 33 seconds left.
Arizona's Kylan Boswell (in blue) defends during USA's 77-72 win over Slovenia on Sunday, June 25, 2023, in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup, at Debrecen, Hungary.
Later Sunday, Boswell made several key plays in the fourth quarter to help USA come back to beat Slovenia 77-72. Boswell had eight points and an assist while shooting 4 for 9 but missed all four 3-pointers he took and had four turnovers.
USA trailed Slovenia 63-52 early in the fourth quarter before Boswell assisted Tre Johnson on a 3-pointer with 9:19 that pulled the Americans within eight points. Boswell hit two jumpers and recorded a steal as USA continued its late surge the rest of the way.
USA (2-0) is next scheduled to face Lebanon (0-2) at 6 a.m. Arizona time on Tuesday, while Serbia (2-0) will face Japan (1-1) at 11 a.m. All U19 World Cup games can be seen live and archived at FIBA's YouTube channel.
The Arizona Wildcats basketball program will spend part of the summer abroad in Israel and Abu Dhabi. Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said "the more you travel, the better, more well-rounded people you become.” Video by Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star (July 24, 2023)
