Along with Argentina, Australia defeated squads from Greece (94-81), Canada (88-71) and Israel (105-104) on its way to the medal round. Australia enters the tournament quarterfinals on Friday, Aug. 12 against Slovenia and will take on either Lithuania or Argentina on Saturday, Aug. 13.
Australia had the only perfect record to lead Group A with 10 points and is one of just two undefeated squads in the 11-team field. The United States, which played its preliminary-round games in Group B, is also undefeated with a 5-0 mark. Iran, which was scheduled to be in Group A with the Aussies, withdrew from the field before the tournament began.
Aleks Maric has played more than 25 minutes in three of Australia's first four games while averaging a tournament-best 10.0 rebounds per game. He has had at least 10 rebounds three times in four contests, including posting a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards in the one-point victory over Israel. Maric has added 7.8 points, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He is also among the tournament leaders as he has hit 13-of-16 attempts (81.3 percent) from the free throw line.