Ersan Ilyasova was again the go-to man for Turkey

"I'm really very proud of my players," Tanjevic said. "We played man-to man defense without using too much zone defense. I'm satisfied with the effort and with the quality of the defense. Our high shooting percentage was the product of the security of our defense."

Slovenia never recovered from the 10-0 run that Turkey hit them with at the end of the opening quarter that gave them a 27-14 lead.

Immediately after Slovenia forward Miha Zupan's three-ball had trimmed the deficit to just 17-14, Omer Onan drilled a shot from the arc that started the 10-0 surge.

After Goran Dragic missed a three attempt, Turkey rebounded and quickly got the ball up the floor before Ersan Ilyasova buried a jump shot.

Ilyasova and then Turkoglu dunked in transition before the latter made one of two free-throws for the 13-point advantage 10 minutes into the contest.

Turkey kept the pressure on and went to half-time with a 50-31 stranglehold on the game thanks to an eye-popping 72% (18 of 25) from the floor, including 75% (eight of 11) from behind the arc.

Sinan Guler and Onan had made both of their attempts and Ilyasova was two of three from long range at the break while captain Turkoglu had nine points and four assists.

Tanjevic's side never gave Slovenia a chance in the second half.  Ilyasova led all scorers with 19 points on the night.

Next up is Serbia in the last four.

"I think Serbia will be a tough opponent," Tanjevic said.

"They've shown so far this tournament, just like Team USA, that they are in good shape and they play intense defense. "

Unlike last year in Katowice, Poland, Pau Gasol wasn't on the court for Spain against Serbia to lead his team to victory.

Instead, he sat courtside serving as a colour commentator for Spanish television and watched as Teodosic, the MVP of the Euroleague this season for Olympiacos, added another highlight to his famous career.

The playmaker, who had made just one of his seven attempts from behind the arc to that point, came out of a timeout called by his coach Dusan Ivkovic and ran the clock down to five seconds before releasing his shot from several metres beyond the line, over the outstretched hands of Spain's Jorge Garbajosa.

Serbia's bench and fans erupted and shouted for joy.

"It's crazy, what can I say?" Serbia's Nenad Krstic said.

"He maybe didn't have the best game he could have had but 10 out of 10 times I'm going to give him the ball with one second to go. He's going to do something of it. He's crazy, he's going to take that shot like nobody else can."

Spain still had three seconds to knot the contest after the Teodosic shot.

After a timeout, Spain's Juan Carlos Navarro tried to inbound the ball to Jorge Garbajosa but the veteran fumbled it before having it stolen by his Real Madrid teammate, Novica Velickovic.

Serbia's players, who form the youngest squad at the World Championship with an average age of 23.6, ran to the middle of the court to celebrate.

"The shot would have meant nothing if my teammates had not fought so hard for 40 minutes," Teodosic said.

"It was a very tough game and the best one in Istanbul so far," Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic said. "Our goal was to see where we are at this moment. We faced Spain last year and we were blown out. But this time we played more aggressive basketball with better shooting."

Indeed they did shoot better.

While Teodosic struggled, his teammates put on a quite an exhibition from long range. The Blues drilled 15 of 30 from behind the arc, with Marko Keselj five of six, Nemanja Bjelica three of three, Velickovic three of six and Dusko Savanovic two of four.

The shooting helped Serbia survive an off night at the charity stripe where they made just nine of 17 (53%).

Velickovic and Keselj each had 17 points while Dusko Savanovic poured in 15 and Bjelica 14.

Krstic also had a big hand in the victory with 13 points and nine rebounds while Teodosic finished with 12 points and a game-high eight assists.

Juan Carlos Navarro had a game-high 27 points for Spain.

"It's tough right now, but I'm sure in a couple of hours I will look back and realize how proud I am of my players for working hard for 40 minutes," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said.