17 October, 2023
05 May, 2024
3 Jayvon Graves (LUD)
21/11/2023
Preview
to read

25 things to look out for in Wednesday's games

 

MIES (Switzerland) - Wednesday could prove the day where the picture of the next stage starts taking shape, since as many as three teams could secure a top-three finish in their respective group, which guarantees a place in the Play-ins, at the very least.

Here are 25 things you need to know ahead of the four Wednesday games:

AEK Betsson BC (3-0) v King Szczecin (1-2)

Group D - 18:00 CET - Athens, Greece

Justin Tillman leads the BCL in field goal percentage, shooting 76.7 percent from the floor

● If AEK win on Wednesday, they will have started a BCL campaign on a 4-0 record for the first time in the eight-year history of the competition. The Greek team, who won the reverse fixture in Athens by a 9-point differential (86-77), have won all three games so far by single-digit margins.

● Szczecin lost their two most recent games in the BCL after winning their debut game in the competition. The Polish team have given up more than 80 points in each of their encounters and all of them were decided by single-digit margins.

● AEK are averaging a league-high 24.7 made two-point shots per game and score a league-leading 43.3 points in the paint per game.

● AEK's Justin Tillman averaged 16.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in the six BCL games in which he's played 20+ minutes. He is leading the league in field-goal percentage, shooting 76.7 percent from the floor.

● Zac Cuthbertson is the only Szczecin player to have pulled down 5+ rebounds in each of their first three BCL games. He posted his BCL career highs,16 points and 9 rebounds, in the reverse fixture against AEK.

Le Mans Sarthe Basket (1-2) v Unicaja (3-0)

Group A - 20:30 CET - Le Mans, France


David Kravish scored in double digits in each of his last four BCL games against French teams

● Le Mans, who are coming off an 81-63 loss to Falco Szombathely at home, will try to avoid losing consecutive games at home for the first time since November-December 2018 (when they lost two in a row).

● Unicaja have won seven of their last eight road games in the BCL, including the only road game they have played so far this season (87-78 at Falco Szombathely).

● The team that was ahead at half-time ended up winning in all three of Le Mans' BCL games this season.

● Unicaja have scored more than 80 points in each of their three BCL games this season. Their longest high-scoring stretch is six games scoring consistently 80+ points, between November 2022 and March 2023.

● Le Mans allowed 10 or more three-pointers in each of their three first games. By comparison, they had kept opponents to fewer than 10 three-pointers in 29 of their first 32 games in the competition. Le Mans opponents have scored 42.7 percent of their points from behind the arc. The only team that defends three-pointers worse than Le Mans are fellow French side Cholet Basket, who allow opponents to score 47.2 percent of their points from long range.

● D'Shawn Schwartz's 20 points in the reverse fixture against Unicaja, are the highest-scoring showing by a Le Mans player so far this BCL season.

● Unicaja's David Kravish has averaged 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in his last eight road games in the BCL. Furthermore, he scored 10+ points in each of his last four BCL games against French teams, a feat he had achieved only once in his first five games against French opposition.

Banco di Sardegna Sassari (1-2) v MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg (1-2)

Group D - 20:30 CET - Sassari, Italy


Stéphane Gombauld posted season-highs in points and rebounds against Ludwigsburg

● Sassari have won three of their five games against Ludwigsburg, including their last two encounters. The two games in Italy were decided by margins of seven or fewer points.

● Sassari, who are coming off an 89-79 win against Ludwigsburg in the reverse fixture, are looking to win consecutive BCL games for the first time since October-November 2020, when they won three in a row.

● Ludwigsburg, who have lost their two most recent road games in the BCL, are looking to avoid matching their longest losing slide on the road, the three consecutive losses between October-November 2018.

● Ludwigsburg average 24 first-quarter points per game, it has been their most productive quarter in every game this season.

● Sassari's Stéphane Gombauld had a BCL season-high 18 points and 9 rebounds in the reverse fixture, after tallying 18 points and four rebounds in his first two BCL appearances combined. He also had 5 blocks in that game, the most ever for a Sassari player Sassari in a single BCL game.

● Ludwigsburg's Jayvon Graves has scored 20+ points in each of his last two BCL games. By comparison, it took him his first 16 appearances in the competition to have two games scoring 20+ points. What's more, Graves is the only player to have put up 20+ points and 5+ assists in multiple games this season (this stat doesn't include Tuesday's games).

Rio Breogan (1-2) v Hapoel Holon (2-0)

Group F - 20:30 CET - Lugo, Spain

CJ Harris has been scoring in double digits with admirable consistency 

● Breogan have lost their last two games in the BCL but have won the only game they played at home in the competition (68-48 against Bursaspor).

● The team that was ahead at half-time ended up winning in all three of Breogan's BCL games.

● Holon have won their last three BCL games (includes their last game of the previous season) and are hoping to tie their longest win streak in the competition, when they won four in a row in March-April 2022.

● Holon have a 1-4 record in the five BCL games they have played in Spain, their sole win was against BAXI Manresa in January 2020 (67-65).

● Holon are leading the league both in three-point field goal percentage (shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc) as well as in average three-points made, with 12 triples per game. Holon score 45.3 percent of their points from three-point range, more than any other team this season.

● Stefan Momirov became the first Breogan to score 20 points in a BCL game with his 21 points last week against Holon. He had scored a combined 10 points in his first two BCL games, and he is yet to miss a 2-point shot in the competition (6-of-6 so far).

● If Holon's C.J. Harris scores 15 or more points on Wednesday it will be the first time in his career he achieves that feat in five consecutive BCL games. Harris has been responsible for three of the last six times a Holon player scored 15+ points in a BCL game.