SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Rickey Paulding blew his first chance, then made sure his second won the game.

After missing a dunk with 51 seconds remaining, Paulding spun through traffic on another possession and made a 14-foot jumper as the United States men's basketball team rallied to beat Argentina 80-79 Saturday night to open pool play.

The Missouri guard hadn't even scored until hitting a short jumper with 4:09 left. On the Americans' next trip down on offense, he pulled up in transition and hit a 3-pointer to pull the United States within one.

"It was a good look for me, and I didn't hesitate," he said of the 3. "I just tried to keep staying aggressive because I knew my shots would fall."

Argentina's 6-foot-10 center, Ramon Gonzalez, dominated the smaller Americans in the paint, leading his team with 22 points and eight rebounds.

The United States trailed by as many as eight in the final quarter, but Kentucky's Chuck Hayes, who led his team with 17 points, scored back-to-back baskets to start the American rally.

"It was a tough opening game," U.S. coach Tom Izzo of Michigan State said. "We knew it would be."

Argentina's Bruno Lavaque converted a four-point play with 8:52 to play to give his team a 64-61 lead. It started an 11-2 run. The United States didn't regain the lead until Hayes converted two free throws with 2:45 left for a one-point lead.

Argentina tied the game with a free throw, but Gonzaga's Blake Stepp made a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to put the Americans ahead for good. Connecticut's Emeka Okafor's steal with 36 seconds on the clock set the stage for Paulding's redemption.

The U.S. women lost to Cuba in their opener 84-62 Saturday morning -- the Cubans' fourth win over the Americans in an 11-day span. Cuba swept three exhibition games July 22-24 in Havana, including a three-point win in the opener.

"The most frustrating part of it is that we have played them four times and we haven't been successful," American forward Nicole Powell of Stanford said. "A 14-point lead is nothing."

When Cuba star Yaquelin Plutin saw that her team would open against the United States here, she couldn't quite believe it. Plutin knew the teams likely would meet, but she hadn't expected it to be in the first game.

"It's very hard to beat a team four times in a row," said Plutin, who scored a game-high 18 points and led her team's impressive second-half comeback. "We are accustomed to playing them, and they are accustomed to playing us."

Plutin and her teammates increased their defensive intensity in the second half and became more efficient on offense to erase a 14-point halftime deficit. The Cubans began the third quarter by scoring 15 straight points as the Americans went cold from the field.

"We changed our way of play in the second half," Plutin said.

Cuba, which muscled its way inside and started pressing from the half-court line, shot 49 percent (29-for-59) after a poor first half in which it made only 11-of-30 attempts. The Americans failed to handle the aggressive defensive pressure and struggled to get open looks at the basket.

UConn's Ann Strother and Kansas State's Laurie Koehn scored 11 apiece for the Americans, who managed only 16 points in the second half.

"We know each other so well," U.S. coach Debbie Ryan said, referring to Cuba. "They came out with a lot more energy, and we didn't have energy. They pressured, and we didn't handle the pressure."

The top four teams from the preliminary rounds advance to the semifinals.