Baylor guard Aaron Bruce and the Australian national team have advanced to the elimination round of the 2006 FIBA World Championship and next face the United States squad in a round of 16 game Sunday in Saitama, Japan. The game will tip Saturday at 11 p.m. CST in the U.S. and will be televised by ESPN2 on tape delay at midnight.

Australia, nicknamed the "Boomers," advanced out of pool play after winning two of five games and placing fourth in Group C. They defeated Brazil and Qatar. Australia now faces the heavily favored American team that went undefeated in Group D in the round of 16 (Eighth-Finals).

Bruce has averaged 8.6 minutes off the bench through five games for the Boomers. He has averaged 3.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists. His top performance was in a loss to Greece, when he scored eight points, shot 3-for-5 from the field and had two steals in 10 minutes played.

The Baylor junior is believed to be one of only three current U.S. student-athletes competing at the world championship; along with Winthrop's Craig Bradshaw (New Zealand) and Oregon's Oguchi Chamberlain (Nigeria).

Bruce averaged 1.0 points and 0.7 assists in 11 minutes per game off the bench in three exhibition contests in China immediately prior to the world championship. Bruce started four earlier exhibition contests and averaged 4.0 points and 1.5 assists in 14 minutes per game.

In his first stint with Australia's 12-man senior team, Bruce is competing alongside Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut and former St. Mary's University forward Daniel Kickert. Bruce is a veteran of international competition for Australia. He played the last two summers for the under-21 national team, including serving as captain for the "Crocs" at the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championships in Argentina. He was part of the Australian junior national team that won the 2003 FIBA U19 World Championship in Greece.

The 6-3 guard is a two-time All-Big 12 honoree and former Freshman All-American who set a conference scoring record for freshmen in 2004-05. Bruce was elected to Baylor's All-Centennial team in 2006.

Australia placed ninth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens but did not qualify for the 2002 FIBA World Championships. The Boomers have never finished higher than fifth at the world championships.

The FIBA World Championship is played every four years and determines the best basketball nation of the world. The first FIBA World Championship was played in 1950 in Argentina and has since then been competed 14 times.

CURRENT U.S. COLLEGE PLAYERS AT 2006 FIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Craig Bradshaw, Sr., F/C, Winthrop (NEW ZEALAND)
Aaron Bruce, Jr., G, Baylor (AUSTRALIA)
Chamberlain Oguchi, Jr., G, Oregon (NIGERIA)