Canada basketball squad cruises into quarters at World University Games after beating the U.S.

The Canadian men’s basketball team will play for a chance at a medal at the 2013 FISU Summer Universiade. Surprisingly, the team from the United States will not.

Canada finished a perfect 5-0 in Group C and earned a quarter-final berth with a 94-85 win over the United States on Friday in Kazan, Russia. The loss was the second in a row for the U.S. which finished 3-2, one spot behind Australia and out of the medal round.

Any time a Canadian basketball team beats an American team it makes headlines. But Friday’s win really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Team Canada, a collection of Canadian university and U.S. college players, and led by national team head coach Jay Triano, beat the U.S. three times in June during a Four Nations tournament in China. Canada will play its quarter-final game on Sunday against the second-place team from Group D, likely Brazil.

Canada has historically performed well at the Universiade (aka the World University Games) but has not won gold since 1983, a team that included Triano the player.

Through five games, Canada appears to be one of the favourites for gold. But the medal round will feature strong teams from Lithuania, Russia and Serbia – the defending gold medalists from 2011 who beat Canada in that final.

This Canadian team doesn’t feature the biggest up-and-coming names in Canadian basketball but is still loaded with NCAA talent. Brady Heslip, a guard at Baylor University and Triano’s nephew, led the team with 20 points in the win over the U.S. Kevin Pangos is a star guard at Gonzaga; Dwight Powell, a forward at Stanford, is a projected NBA draft pick in 2014. Melvin Ejim and Daniel Mullings both played in the NCAA tournament this year. Forwards Jordan Bachynski and Murphy Burnatowski don’t play at top-flight NCAA schools but have been solid up front. Two of the best players in the CIS are on the team too, brothers Thomas and Philip Scrubb who have led the Carelton Ravens to three consecutive CIS championships.

A good showing by the Canadian squad would continue an unprecedented run of success for Canadian basketball. In June, Brampton, Ont.’s Anthony Bennett became the first Canadian to be selected No. 1 overall in the NBA draft. Kamloops, B.C.’s Kelly Olynyk went No. 13 and is now tearing up the Orlando Summer League with the Boston Celtics.

The Canadian junior men’s team had a disappointing sixth-place finish at the under-19 world championships, even though it still ranked as the best finish ever for Canada at the event.

And of course, this is all prelude to the crowning of Thornhill, Ont.’s Andrew Wiggins as ‘The Next One.’ Wiggins will attend Kansas University next year then almost certainly be the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA draft.