Austin Wiley and the USA Basketball U19 team continued its dominating play Sunday.
Wiley, an Auburn sophomore, posted a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds to lead the USA to a 109-68 win over Angola in the second game of Group D in the FIBA U19 World Cup at the Stadium Indoor Hall in Cairo, Egypt.
"Just rebounding, doing my role. Scoring when I got the ball, cleaning up on misses and hitting my free throws," said Wiley of his focus Sunday.
The USA closes group play against Italy on Tuesday at 9:30 am CT. All games are streamed live at FIBA.com.
Wiley, who is the team’s captain, started for the second-straight game while shooting 4-of-9 from the field and 8-of-12 from the foul line while playing 20:36. Nine of his 16 rebounds were on the offensive glass, and he had an assist and a steal. His +41 tied for the best plus-minus on the team.
The Hoover, Ala., native dominated the first half with 13 points and 12 rebounds as the USA enjoyed a 60-26 lead at intermission.
"These games are really important to just help us get our team chemistry together, just everybody getting more comfortable with each other and this is a great win to give us more confidence," Wiley said.
Wiley, who had five points, eight rebounds, a block and an assist in a 108-48 win over Iran Saturday, is averaging 10.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in only 17.8 minutes per game. He is shooting 50 percent from the field and 64 percent from the free throw line.
USA improved to 2-0 in Group D pool play while Angola fell to 0-2. Angola lost to Italy 70-66 in game 1.
Following the preliminary round, all 16 teams will be seeded according to group play results and will advance to the round of 16 on Wednesday. Winners will advance to Friday’s medal quarterfinals, while the remaining teams will continue playing out for classification. The medal semifinals will be held July 8, and the gold and bronze medal games on July 9.
"I’m really enjoying this," Wiley said. "Last year was fun and this year is also fun. It will be fun in the future seeing where everybody goes (to college), especially because I was on a team with them. So, it’s been really fun."
Wiley is vying for his second-straight gold in as many summers as he averaged 8.0 points and a team second-best 6.4 rebounds for Team USA’s gold medal winner at the FIBA Men’s U17 World Championship in Zaragoza, Spain in 2016.
The United States is looking for its third-straight gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup after winning over Serbia in 2013 in Prague, Czech Republic and defeating Croatia in 2015 in Heraklion, Greece.
