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Australia ends Team USA's 78-game winning streak

Daniel Pockett / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The United States' historic 78-game winning streak is over after Australia defeated them 98-94 in a World Cup tuneup.

It was the first loss for Team USA in a major international tournament or exhibition since the 2006 world championships against Greece.

The Americans had since gone undefeated for over a decade - a span that includes three Olympics and two World Cups.

It was also Australia's first-ever win against the United States in 31 all-time meetings.

San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills scored a game-high 30 points on 10-of-22 shooting - including the Aussies' last 10 points - to lead the Boomers past the world's top-ranked nation.

"It's a building block for us," Mills said postgame. "We're taking it step-by-step and understand that this is a process."

Boston Celtics star Kemba Walker had 22 points for the Americans. The team is missing plenty of NBA notables, including James Harden and Anthony Davis.

"Some of it is expected with a new group that's trying to learn about each other and learn a system,'' Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich said, according to The Associated Press. "So it's not surprising. But the Aussies gave us a great lesson as far as where we want to be and how you have to play in this kind of a competition.''

The United States have one final exhibition game against Canada on Monday, while the Aussies await the latter in their World Cup opener Sept. 1.

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