BEIJING (AP) – Don’t doubt this U.S. men’s basketball team – and sure don’t challenge them, either.

Especially if it’s going to make Kobe Bryant flash his NBA MVP form.

Bryant scored 25 points in his best game in Beijing, and the men’s U.S. Olympic team advanced to the semifinals by beating Australia 116-85 on Wednesday night.

The United States will play defending champion Argentina or Greece on Friday night for a spot in Sunday’s gold medal game.

Locked in what looked like another tough game, the Americans sent the Aussies’ upset hopes down under with a 14-0 burst to open the second half, featuring nine points from Bryant.

LeBron James added 16 points for the Americans, who are guaranteed a chance to play for a medal. They need two more wins for their first gold medal in a major international competition since the 2000 Sydney Games.

As the US expected, with the gold medal getting closer, the games are getting tougher.

There was other notable news, though, like Usain Bolt dominating on the track the way Michael Phelps controlled the water. Bolt broke the world record in the 200-meter dash. There also was the first-ever medal of any color at any Olympics for Afghanistan (a bronze in men’s taekwondo), the debut of BMX cycling and another doping case, this one involving a medal winner.

Another piece of news is that these Summer Games are on pace to be the most-watched in history, a figure skewed by how many of China’s 1.3 billion residents were tuned in.

The United States still leads the medal count, up only 82-79 over China. The hosts bumped their gold count to 45, with a first-ever sailing victory joining the list.

Softball

The U.S. came as close to defeat as they have in a long time. Not that it mattered in the end.

The Americans were in a scoreless tie with Japan after seven innings, then scored four runs in the ninth – three on a long homer by Crystl Bustos – for a 4-1 victory and a spot in the gold-medal game.

Again, their opponent will be Japan in what will be the last Olympic softball game until at least 2016.

The Japanese beat Australia 4-3 in 12 innings later to advance, leaving the Aussies with the bronze.

Baseball

The guys went to extra innings against Japan, too, and also pulled out a win.

Brian Barden singled in the go-ahead run to break a scoreless tie in the 11th inning on the way to a 4-2 victory. The Americans earned the third seed in Friday’s medal round, with the Japanese getting fourth.

The U.S. will play defending champion Cuba, while Japan will take on South Korea. the only undefeated team.

Cycling

Remember the spark snowboard cross put into the Winter Games in Turin? Maybe bicycle motorcross – BMX, to those in the know – will do the same.

American racers Mike Day and Kyle Bennett gave the crowd a great introduction to the sport, with Day winning the time trial and each of his three quarterfinal heats and Bennett advancing but also dislocating his left shoulder in a wreck on his final heat.

Top-ranked racer Donny Robinson also moved on, as did Jill Kintner, the lone American in the 16-racer women’s field, who is competing despite a shredded knee ligament.

“You can’t get much more rad than this,” Robinson said.

Wrestling

Ben Askren has to be thinking, “I cut my hair for this?”

The bushy-haired former NCAA champion who promised a gold medal lost in freestyle’s 74-kilogram round of 16, ending his Olympics after two matches. The gold ended up around the same neck it has been placed at the last two Olympics – Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia. The three straight golds in the sport ties a record.

Diving

Now comes the tough part for China: The 10-meter platform, the one event the Chinese didn’t win at the two previous Olympics.

They’re off to a good start this time, with teenagers Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin leading the women’s standings in preliminaries.

Attempting to avoid a second straight shutout in the diving medals for the United States, Laura Wilkinson was fifth after completing the second-best dive of the opening round. She won this event in Sydney and the Americans have not won a medal in diving since.

Taekwondo

Mexico’s Guillermo Perez has a gold medal. And Afghanistan now has a medal, period.

Perez won the men’s under 58-kg division, beating Yulis Gabriel Mercedes of the Dominican Republic. A bronze went to Rohullah Nikpai, marking the first ever medal – in any sport – for Afghanistan.

Men’s volleyball

The U.S. men beat Serbia, remaining undefeated and earning a spot in the semifinals against Russia. Brazil plays Italy in the other semifinal match.

Men’s water polo

The U.S. squad knows who it will be playing in the semifinals: Serbia. The other semi will pit reigning European champs Montenegro against two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Hungary.

Serbia beat Spain to advance. Montenegro moved on by upsetting Croatia, which came in as the world’s No. 1 team.

Kayak

American Rami Zur failed to qualify for the finals of the men’s 1,000-meter single kayak .

China added three boats to the finals, with the 1,000-meter canoe double team, the 1,000 K-2 and the 1,000 K-4 all qualifying.

Men’s beach volleyball

The stunning loss in the tournament opener seems like ancient history for Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, especially now that the Americans are playing for the gold medal.

The guys needed only 41 minutes to eliminate Georgia in straight sets in the semifinals, then watched Brazil’s No. 2 team beat its best, the Athens gold medalists.

Boxing

British middleweight James Degale beat former Olympic champion Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan to clinch Britain’s third boxing medal in Beijing, while Vijender Kumar clinched the first boxing medal in India’s history.

Cuba’s last two fighters also reached the semifinals with one-sided victories, guaranteeing a whopping eight medals for the sport’s now-unquestioned power. Flyweight Andris Laffita earned a marquee meeting with Russia’s Georgy Balakshin, while middleweight Emilio Correa emulated his medal-winning father with a win over Uzbekistan’s Elshod Rasulov.

Italy’s Vincenzo Picardi left the arena on his coach’s shoulders after beating Tunisia’s Walid Cherif to clinch a medal. Italy already clinched medals for its two heaviest fighters, world champions Roberto Cammarelle and Clemente Russo, but rarely does well in the lighter classes.

Women’s field hockey

The U.S. had a chance to finish seventh. It didn’t happen.

At least it took two extra periods before Spain beat the Americans. The tournament was a total loss, though, as the ladies beat New Zealand and had draws with world No. 2 Argentina, Japan and Britain. The team’s other loss was to defending Olympic champion Germany.

“I think with more experience on these top levels, as we continue to play against the best teams in the world on a consistent basis, that’s what’s really going to continue to develop this team and this program,” U.S. captain Kate Barber said.

Sailing

China found another sport to pad its gold-medal count, getting its first ever victory in sailing when windsurfer Yin Jian claimed the women’s RS:X class. Yin won silver four years ago.

“Is it real? Is it real? Did I really win gold?” Yin asked after the finish.

New Zealand’s Tom Ashley won the men’s RS:X. Bronze went to Israel’s Shahar Zubari, who has been under intense scrutiny in his homeland because during his national trials he defeated windsurfer Gal Fridman, who won Israel’s first-ever Olympic gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Open-water swimming

Larisa Ilchenko of Russia drafted behind the leading British duo most of the 6.2-mile race, then sprinted to a gold medal in the final 50 meters (yards).

The 25-woman race looked a lot like roller derby in water, turning lane-swimming into a contact sport.

The pace-setting Brits, Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten, got silver and bronze.

Natalie du Toit of South Africa, who lost her left leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident in 2001, finished 16th.

“My message isn’t just to disabled people,” du Toit said. “It’s to everyone out there that you have to work hard. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs … but I’ve seen a lot of good things along the way. I was able to use the negativism in a good light and say after my accident, ‘I can still do it if I work hard.”‘

Synchronized swimming

Call them A-2. Or, Anastasia Squared.

Or just say that the Russian synchronized swimming duo of Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova have repeated as Olympic champions. The pair received all perfect 10s for technical merit on their free routine.

“We waited four years for this gold and a whole row of 10s was our crowning achievement,” Ermakova said.

The Americans were fifth.

Table tennis

All three members of the Chinese squad advanced easily in women’s singles competition, especially Zhang Yining, the defending gold medalist and top-ranked player in the world.

Two U.S. players – Gao Jun and Wang Chen – also stayed alive.

Men’s handball

Croatia’s gold-medal defense reached the semifinals with a victory over Denmark. The Croats will next play the French, who beat Russia.

Iceland will play Spain in the other semifinal. Iceland defeated Poland and Spain beat South Korea.