One of the Utah Jazz’s Olympians helped pull off a shocking exhibition win.
Nigeria didn’t exactly blow out Team USA in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Nonetheless, the 90-87 outcome surely humbled the Americans, who had beaten Nigeria by 43 points in a 2016 exhibition bout and by 83 points in the 2012 London Olympics. And a Utah Jazz wing, Miye Oni, played a role in the monumental international upset.
Across his 11 minutes on the floor at the Michelob ULTRA Arena, Oni scored six points via a 2-for-4 clip from 3-point land, thereby contributing to Nigeria’s 20-for-42 barrage beyond the arc. The second-year Jazzman out of Yale also compiled three rebounds and two assists off the bench.
Plus, on the other end of the court, Oni finished with one block and did his part for a tough-minded Nigeria defense in stifling the large cast of All-Stars on Team USA.
Last season, Oni averaged 1.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.5 assists, essentially as the 10th man for a Jazz bunch that finished with the NBA’s best record in the regular season.
A summary of the Utah Jazz’s 2021 Olympians
In addition to Miye Oni, two other 2020-21 Jazzmen are set to play in the Tokyo Olympics: Rudy Gobert for France and Joe Ingles for Australia.
Speaking of Ingles, Australia is the next exhibition foe for Team USA. That game tips off at 6 p.m. MT Monday. Those two teams will then meet once again on Friday.
As for Gobert and France, they are not on tap to face the Americans in exhibition play. Yet Team USA and France are both in Group A for the Olympics, and on July 25, they will be each other’s first opponent in Tokyo.
Adding to the July 25 festivities for Utah Jazz fans, Oni and Ingles are slated to square off that day as well, as Australia and Nigeria are both in Group B.