Trying to bottle up a third of a season into less than 30 days, Southern Illinois University men's basketball coach Chris Lowery and Team USA are off to New Zealand today.

Lowery, an assistant on the U19 World Championship Team with former Saluki Matt Painter, is scheduled to leave with the team from Denver later today. The team, which began practicing Monday, then hopes to play nine games in the FIBA World Championship for Men beginning July 2.

"I like our team," Lowery said Tuesday. "Obviously, we haven't been with them very long. The good thing about them is we're doing two-a-days, so we have a chance to grow pretty quick."

Team USA will open pool play of the preliminary round Thursday against Iran, then play Friday against France. The squad will then play Egypt on Saturday, July 4, hoping to stay out of fourth place in its pool. If it finishes in the top three, it will advance to the second round, where it will play three new teams. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday, July 12, in Auckland, New Zealand.

The tournament does not have an American broadcasting partner, USA Basketball media head Craig Miller said, but the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games will be available via Webcast on www.fibatv.com for a fee of $8.

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 618-351-5087