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Pac-12 All Star Team Challenges Australian National Basketball Team

The Pac-12 team battled hard against the Australian National Team before falling 92-83.

By Marcus Russell
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Pac-12 All Star team put up quite the fight against the Australian National Team Tuesday in Melbourne, Australia. The Australian team (or the Boomers) are preparing for the Rio Olympics and won their first of two games against the Pac-12 team 92-83.

The Boomers were expected to cruise to an easy victory over the Pac-12 team that is mostly complied of young but talented college players. Fresh off a 107-52 victory over the Melbourne Tigers the Pac-12 team was brimming with confidence and came out aggressive against the talented Boomers squad.

Unfortunately for the Boomers and the nearly sold-out Hisense arena, Andrew Bogut and Chris Goulding were held out with injuries. And Matthew Delladova stayed glued to the bench as he waits to be cleared for international play by his new NBA team, the Milwaukiee Bucks.

The Pac-12 team started Oregon State's Stephen Thompson Jr and Drew Eubanks, as well as Kadeem Allen (Arizona) , Tra Holder (Arizona State), and Josh Hawkinson (Washington State). And they showed no fear playing against some of the most talented players in the world. Jumping out to a 24-20 lead over the Boomers in the first.

The Pac-12 team was competitive throughout the game except for struggling in the third and being outscored by 11 points in the quarter. They eventually lost 92-83 and struggled to contain Aron Baynes, of the Detroit Pistons, for much of the game as he ended up with 28 points and 9 rebounds.

Stephen Thompson Jr scored 8 points (2-4 from three) in just over 17 minutes of action. While Drew Eubanks recorded 6 points (3-3 FG's), 5 rebounds and a steal while playing almost 17 minutes.

Check out the box score:

Matthew Delladova is expected to play in Thursday's game and as the Boomers get more time together they should play better as a team. It's wonderful to see Stephen Thompson Jr and Drew Eubanks getting the opportunity to play against NBA-level talent.

Don't miss the Pac-12's last game in Australia, Thursday (June 12th) at 2:30 AM broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network.