Arizona Basketball: Wildcats excel in FIBA U19 Tournament

DAUGAVPILS, LATVIA – With FIBA U19 Basketball action continuing, Arizona Basketball stars Ben Mathurin, Azuolas Tubelis, and Oumar Ballo have excelled. 

If you have been paying attention, this summer has been a busy one for Arizona Basketball, and a few of its budding stars as Ben Mathurin, Azuolas Tubelis, and Oumar Ballo all competed in the all-too-famous FIBA U19 Tournament.

Taking place in Daugavpils, Latvia, Mathurin represented his home country of Canada, while Tubelis played for Lithuania and Ballo for Mali.

Arizona Wildcats

All making their debuts in the competitive tournament, it was an opportunity for Wildcats fans to see how Tubelis and Mathurin have progressed this off-season, as well as finally get a glimpse at incoming Gonzaga transfer, Oumar Ballo.

Together, the budding Arizona Basketball stars have excelled in the annual FIBA U19 Tournament held in Latvia.

Already, Mathurin and Tubelis competed against each other, as just last week Lithuania and Canada faced off in group play. Canada won that game 81-70 despite Tubelis scoring 32 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

While Mathurin struggled in that game, since then he has been on a terror, averaging 12.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game in five games as helped Canada advance to the FIBA Semifinals.

But even more impressive in this tournament has been Tubelis. Despite his team being eliminated early, the Lithuanian forward was stellar, averaging 16 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

However, the big story has been Ballo. An incoming transfer who saw limited action while at Gonzaga, this tournament has been illuminating for Arizona fans. While his team did not see the success they wanted, nonetheless, he still shined, showing a lot of promise just ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Even with Mali finishing in fourth place in group play, Ballo finished the tournament averaging 12.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.

While it is hard to say if the success overseas translates to improved results with the Wildcats this year, nonetheless, seeing our trio of Cats shine is at the least very promising.