The heavy-benched United States used one quarter to demolish Australia 116-85 to advance into the semifinals of the men's basketball competitions at the Beijing Olympic Games on Wednesday.

The U.S. will face the winners of a late-night match between Argentina and Greece on Friday.

Both sides had no hesitations on hard fouls, draggings and pushings, elbow splashings as if it was a real battle, as a total of 51 fouls called in the match.

Australia played out the best first half against the U.S. as they trailed only by 55-43, but the Americans picked up their offence in the second.

A 14-0 run from the U.S. kicked off the third quarter, in which the Australians were held pointless in four minutes and beaten up by 34-18.

The Americans, which were tagged as the smallest squad in 16 years, dominated the board by 57-28. They had 10 steals, 4.8 less than their average in the preliminary round.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2008)