A day after witnessing Arizona teammate Azuolas Tubelis drop 32 points, Wildcats wing Bennedict Mathurin broke out for a 30-point outing of his own in Canada’s second game at the FIBA U19 World Cup.
Mathurin connected on 11 of 15 field goals including 6 of 9 from 3-point range to lead Canada to a 100-75 victory over Japan Sunday. The UA sophomore also had three rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.
Bennedict Mathurin drops a light 30 for @CanBball in their win over Japan, going 6/9 from three and 11/15 overall! #FIBAU19 | @ArizonaMBB pic.twitter.com/OIpsqOX90B
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 4, 2021
Mathurin responded from a lackluster offensive performance against Tubelis’ Lithuania team Saturday, when he was held to four points on 1-of-8 shooting
Tubelis and Lithuania picked up their first win of the tournament Sunday, beating Senegal 79-73. The 6-foot-11 forward had 8 points and six assists in 27 minutes, while shooting three for 13 from the field. Tubelis also had an athletic block, even if it doesn’t show up on the official FIBA box score (yes, really).
@ltu_basketball getting it done at both ends! Tubelis block ➡️ Lelevičius lob ➡️ Krivas finish! #FIBAU19 pic.twitter.com/Hj2EwQju88
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 4, 2021
Arizona center Oumar Ballo (Mali) faces the United States Sunday at 10:30 a.m. PT. The incoming freshman had five points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks on 2-of-7 shooting in 30 minutes in Mali’s opening 97-67 loss to Australia.
Here’s the schedule for the rest of the games in group play that feature an Arizona Wildcat:
Tuesday, July 6
- Group A: Senegal vs. Canada (Mathurin) – 2 a.m. PT
- Group A: Lithuania (Tubelis) vs. Japan – 5 a.m. PT
- Group D: Turkey vs. Mali (Ballo) – 7:30 a.m. PT