17 October, 2023
05 May, 2024
Marcus Foster (VILN)
09/01/2024
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23 things to look out for in Wednesday's games

MIES (Switzerland) - Game 2 in each of the remaining four Play-In series takes place on Wednesday with Darüssafaka Lassa, Rytas Vilnius, Cholet Basket and Rio Breogan all needing to win so they can stave off elimination and force Game 3.

Here are 23 things you need to know ahead of the four Wednesday games:

Darüssafaka Lassa v MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg

Game 2 (Ludwigsburg lead the series 1-0) - 18:00 CET - Istanbul, Turkiye

Don't be surprised if you see Jayvon Graves casually posting a 15-5-5 game yet again 

● This is the third consecutive BCL season in which Darüssafaka are playing in the Play-Ins. They won their two home games in both previous seasons, by margins of more than 10 points; Darüssafaka are 4-1 in their last five home games in the BCL, scoring more than 80 points in each of those wins.

● Ludwigsburg, who won 82-63 in Game 1, will be looking to avoid a repetition of their 2022-23 Play-Ins experience, when they defeated Limoges in Game 1 but went on to lose the next two games of that series.

● Ludwigsburg have won four of their last five BCL games against Turkish opponents.

● Ludwigsburg are the team the best defends the three-pointer in this season's BCL, allowing opponents to make only 5 triples per game on average and holding them to a league-best (lowest) three-point field goal percentage of 25.7.

● Brendan Adams, who led all Darüssafaka scorers in Game 1 with 13 points, has scored in double digits in six of his seven BCL games, including each of his last five.

● Ludwigsburg's Jayvon Graves, who had 21 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds in Game 1, is the only player so far this BCL season to have posted 15+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists in four different games.

Peristeri bwin v Rytas Vilnius

Game 2 (Perister lead the series 1-0) - 18:30 CET - Athens, Greece


Margiris Normantas has been in great form recently, could he inspire Rytas in this do-or-die game?

● If Peristeri win on Wednesday they will extend their winning streak in the BCL to three games, a feat they have achieved only once previously in the competition, in December 2019.

● Peristeri have scored 90 or more points in two BCL games this season (including their 110-point performance in Game 1 of the series); they've never had a BCL campaign with more than two games of 90+ points.

● Rytas, who won 95-75 at Opava in their most recent BCL road game, are looking to win back-to-back road games for the first time since joining the competition. Last season, Rytas lost 81-78 against another Greek team, PAOK, in the only road game they played in the Play-Ins, but won the series thanks to two wins at home.

● Rytas are leading the BCL this season in offensive rebounds with 18.3 per game and consequently are also top of the league in second-chance points, with 20.7 per game.

● Peristeri's Joe Ragland had 25 points and 15 assists in Game 1, becoming the first ever player in BCL history to register three double-doubles of 20+ points and 10+ assists. Ragland is currently tied with Dijon's David Holston for second place on the all-time BCL assists list, with 411 career assists each.

● Margiris Normantas of Rytas scored 15+ points in each of his last four BCL games, as often as in his previous 46 games in the competition. Normantas also dished 5+ assists in each of his last three BCL games, a mark he had never reached in back-to-back games before.

Banco di Sardegna Sassari v Cholet Basket

Game 2 (Sassari lead the series 1-0) - 20:30 CET - Sassari, Italy

Cholet will need BCL all-time leading scorer Vojtech Hruban at his best if they are to avoid elimination

● Sassari's current two-game winning streak in the BCL is their longest in the competition since October-November 2020, when they won three straight games. The Italian team won their most recent BCL home game (97-81 over King Szczecin on December 20) after losing five of the previous six.

● Cholet are 1-5 in their six road games in the BCL so far. The French team gave up more than 90 points in their last two BCL games, something that had only occurred once in their previous 11 BCL games.

● Cholet have the most permissive defense when it comes to three-point shooting, as they allow opponents a league-high (worse) 13.1 made three-pointers per game on 43.4 three-point shooting, which is also the highest (worse from a defense perspective) in the BCL this season.

● That creates a big problem when defending Sassari, who made 12 or more three-pointers in each of their last three BCL games and shot at 50 percent or better from behind the arc in each of the last two.

● Sassari's Brandon Jefferson posted his first ever double-double in the BCL in Game 1, which was also his debut with the Italian team, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jefferson has made multiple three-pointers in nine of his last 10 games in the competition.

● Cholet's Vojtech Hruban, the BCL all-time leading scorer with 1,043 career points, scored 14 points in Game 1 and if he scores in double digits also on Wednesday it will be the first time he achieves that in consecutive BCL games since he joined the French team. The Czech international had 3 blocks over his last four BCL games; by comparison, he had 3 blocks over his previous 24 BCL games.

Rio Breogan v Pinar Karsiyaka

Game 2 (Karsiyaka lead the series 1-0) - 20:30 CET - Lugo, Spain

Vernon Carey has been playing great on the road, can he help Karsiyaka finally win away from home?

● Breogan are unbeaten at home in the BCL, winning their three home games by an average margin of 11.7 points. The team leading at the start of the fourth quarter ended up winning in each of the seven games that Breogan has played in the competition so far.

● Karsiyaka have lost 9 consecutive games on the road in the BCL, with their last road win datng back to December 2021 (when they previled over Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski in Poland). The Wednesday game will be Karsiyaka's fourth game on the road in the Play-Ins stage, and the Turkish team are 0-3 in the previous three.

● Karsiyaka are leading the BCL this season in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 41.8 percent from behind the arc. They made 10 or more three-pointers in five of their seven BCL games so far this season.

● Ben McLemore, who scored 17 points in his debut with Bregon in Game 1, is looking to post consecutive games scoring in double digits for the first since he came to the competition (McLemore started the season with AEK). He is shooting an excellent 73.3 percent (11 of 15) from two-point range and 85 percent (17 of 20) from the free-throw line.

● Karsiyaka's Vernon Carey Jr. had 15 or more points in each of his seven BCL games and scored more than 20 points in each of his last two road games, including the December 19 game at Filou Oostende when he posted his so far only double-double in the BCL, with 22 points and 10 rebounds.