2017 World University Games: USA vs. Czech Republic

PurdUeSA gets back into group play early Wednesday morning with its third game of the World University Games in Taiwan. This time we will face off against the Czech Republic at approximately 5:30am ET. As far as streaming goes… who knows. Originally it was supposed to air on the FISO Livestream page, but there is no listing for it. Hopefully Chris Forman will provide a working link like he did for the Argentina game.

As for the competition, P.J. Thompson is expected to play after missing the United Arab Emirates game on Monday with a thigh bruise. Even if he missed, it may not matter much. The Czedchs have struggled to score points in this tournament while PurdUeSA is averaging over 100 points per game. The Czechs beat Romania 72-60 in their first game behind 14 points from Miroslav Kvapil. In their second game they lost 87-49 to the same Argentina team that Purdue beat in its owner. In that game they shot 24% from the field and 9% (3 of 33) from three.

In the tournament overall Vince Edwards and Dakota Mathias are leading PurdUeSA at 15.5 per game. We’re averaging 108 points over the first two games and the Czechs are averaging 60.5. Here are their full team stats.

In looking at the other pools, Serbia is leading Pool A with a 3-0 record and is one of the favorites to meet the United States in the finals. They beat Latvia 90-87 and Hungary 70-62 in a pair of close games , but still have games against Chinese Taipei (the hosts) and Mexico.

In Group B both Germany and Finland are 3-0, with Germany averaging 99.67 points per game. That is bolstered by a 119-50 win over Hong Kong. Their next game is against Finland on August 24 before playing Canada on August 25. Canada, the team that played the U.S. so well, lost to Finland 79-71, but beat Norway 85-54.

In Group C the United States and Estonia are both 2-0 after two games, with Estonia edging Romania 74-72 and beating the UAE 97-52. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals, so two more wins by the U.S. will clinch a berth in the next round.

Finally, in Group D the Ukraine is the only team at 2-0. They edged Australia 80-76 and blew out Mozambique 111-42. This is a very tough group with Russia, Lithuania, and Israel all at 1-1.

So it looks like Serbia, the U.S., Germany, and Finland are all in excellent shape to reach the medal rounds. Estonia has a leg up to also advance from our group, as does the host Chinese Taipei in Group A. Group D is a crapshoot with so many good teams, and the Ukraine has to play three of them still.