05 October, 2021
15 May, 2022
Aristeidis Lykogiannis (PAOK)
04/12/2021
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Week 8 Tuesday/Wednesday games preview

MIES (Switzerland) - Basketball Champions League action is set to return from the break with an eight game slate between December 7-8 that will feature several key games, as group play heads into the home stretch.

Here's a look at the four games on Tuesday:

Game 1: Kalev/Cramo (1-3) vs. SIG Strasbourg (2-2) - Group F

Where: Tallinn, Estonia

When: 19:00

First meeting this season: Strasbourg defeated Kalev/Cramo 75-73.

 

  • Kalev/Cramo have lost three of their four games in the BCL, including against Strasbourg in the last game; three of their four games have ended with a differential of four or fewer points.
  • Only two teams have made more 3-pointers per game than Kalev/Cramo in the BCL this season (12 per game) however they have made the fewest 2-pointers per game (13.8); Kalev/Cramo have scored 47% of their total points from 3-pointers, more than any other team.
  • Silas Melson has scored a total of 72 points, the most amongst all players coming off the bench in the BCL this season; Melson scored 21 points and grabbed five rebounds in his only home game in the league this season (vs. Filou Oostende).
  • Strasbourg have lost their last two BCL games, after winning the first two this season; all their games this season have ended with a differential of 10 or fewer points.
  • DeAndre Lansdowne scored 21 points in the last game, with that being only the second time in which he has scored 20+ points in the BCL (19 appearances) - that was also the most of any Strasbourg player in that game; however, Lansdowne has scored 7.7 points per game on average since that matchup.

Game 2: Darussafaka (1-2) vs. Hapoel U-NET Holon (2-1) - Group G

Where: Istanbul, Turkey

When: 20:00

This is the first meeting of the season.

  • Darüssafaka have won just two of their nine games in the BCL, but both those wins happened at home; all four of Darüssafaka's home games have ended with a differential of six or fewer points (W2 L2).
  • Dogus Özdemiroglu has made 12 steals, the most of any player in the BCL this season, despite the fact of playing in only three games with Darüssafaka.
  • Holon have lost their most recent away game, after winning the previous six in the BCL; they have scored an average of 84 points per game while playing away, the second highest of any team with 10+ games in the BCL ever (Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, 85).
  • Holon have conceded just 15.3 points per game in the first quarter, the lowest scoring average conceded by any team in the BCL this season; Holon have scored 89 points per game, the highest average of points scored by any team in the league in 2021-22.
  • Joe Ragland has dished out an average of 7.7 assists per game, the highest average of any player in the BCL in 2021-22; Ragland has tallied 7+ assists in each of his three appearances with Holon in the competition.

Game 3: Arged BM Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski (1-3) vs. BAXI Manresa (4-0) - Group B

Where: Ostrow Wielkopolski, Poland

When: 18:30

First meeting this season: Manresa defeated Ostrow 81-76.

 

  • Ostrow have lost three of their four BCL games, however their only win came in their only home game (76-65 vs. Jerusalem); they have scored either 76 (three times) or 77 points (one time) this season in the league.
  • Ostrow's Kobi Simmons is one of the three players to have scored 20+ points in three different BCL games this season, alongside DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell and Jerrick Harding, doing it in his last three games in the competition.
  • Manresa have won their last four games in the BCL, their best winning run in the competition; they have won their last two away games but are yet to win three games on the road in a row in the BCL.
  • Manresa have won the fourth quarter by an average margin of 8.8 points, the highest positive differential of any team in the last 10 minutes of the game in the BCL in 2021-22.
  • Manresa's Ismael Bako scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in his last game against Pinar Karsiyaka, the only player to combine for 20+ points and 10+ rebounds off the bench in a BCL game this season; he has scored on average 5.5 points in his last four games as a starter in the competition but 16 points per game in his last four appearances as a bench player.

Game 4: Igokea (1-3) vs. ERA Nymburk (2-2) - Group E

Where: Laktasi, Bosnia and Herzegovina

When: 18:30

First meeting this season: Nymburk defeated Igokea 86-82.

 

  • Igokea have won six of their eight home games in the BCL but have lost the most recent one (85-89 vs. Galatasaray Nef); they have tallied an average of 44.5 rebounds per game, the most by any team in the league this season.
  • De'Shawn Stephens has recorded a double-double in each of his last two games with Igokea in the BCL; no player has had more than two double-doubles in the league this season.
  • Nymburk won the last game (86-82) and will play their first ever BCL game in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Nymburk will play in the 17th different country, while only Lenovo Tenerife have played in more nations than that in the history of the competition (19).
  • Nymburk's last three BCL games have all ended with a differential of four or fewer points, after each of their previous six games ending with a margin of more than 10 points; they have been alternating between wins and losses in their last five away games, winning their most recent one (84-83 at PAOK).
  • Nymburk's Vojtech Hruban is one of only two players combining for 600+ points and 300+ rebounds in the BCL (also TaShawn Thomas); Hruban has scored 11+ points in each of his last six BCL games.

Here's a look at the four games on Wednesday:

Game 1: Prometey (1-3) vs. Banco di Sardegna Sassari (1-3) - Group A

Where: Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine

When: 19:00

First meeting this season: Prometey defeated Sassari 87-79.

 

  • Prometey have lost three of their first four games in the BCL but their only win came against Sassari on gameday 3 (87-79); they have lost each of their two home games in the competition, failing to score more than 70 points in each of those games, while they scored 78+ points in each of their two away games.
  • Prometey's D.J. Kennedy has scored 10+ points in each of his last three games in the BCL, as many times as in his previous 14 games in the competition; he has recorded eight double-doubles in the BCL, as many as Yanick Moreira and Jordan Morgan.
  • Sassari won their last BCL game, 82-75 against MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, and will attempt to win consecutive games in the competition for the first time since their first three games of the 2020-21 season; they have lost each of their last five away games after losing only four of the previous 12.
  • Sassari are the only team to have conceded 100+ two-pointers in the BCL this season (105) while only Galatasaray (47) have allowed their opponents to score more three-pointers than Prometey (46).
  • Sassari's David Logan scored 11 points and made 10 assists in his last BCL game against Ludwigsburg, the only player to register a double-double in points and assists while coming off the bench in a game this season; he dished out 10 assists in his 10 previous appearances in the competition combined before that game.

Game 2: Galatasaray Nef (3-1) vs. PAOK mateco (2-2) - Group E

Where: Istanbul, Turkey

When: 20:00

First meeting this season: PAOK defeated Galatasaray 81-74.

 

  • Galatasaray have lost just one game in the BCL this season against PAOK last game (74-81); PAOK have won just one of their four BCL games in Turkey (77-65 vs. Gaziantep in December 2017).
  • Galatasaray's DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell leads the BCL in scoring this season, with an average of 22.3 points per game (tied with Nymburk's Jerrick Harding); Akoon-Purcell has scored more than 20 points in three of his four games this season, after doing it only twice in his previous 16 BCL appearances.
  • PAOK have won their last two BCL games but haven't won more in a row in the competition since November - December 2019 (W3); eight of their last 10 games have ended with a single digit margin.
  • PAOK have conceded just 24 points in the paint per game, the lowest average conceded by any team in the BCL in 2021-22.
  • PAOK's Vlado Jankovic has the best assist-to-turnover ratio among all players with more than 10 assists in the BCL this season (7 – 14ast & 2TOs); Jankovic has also grabbed 6+ rebounds in each of his four games in the league in 2021-22.

Game 3: Lenovo Tenerife (3-1) vs. MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (3-1) - Group A

Where: San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain

When: 18:00

First meeting this season: Ludwigsburg defeated Tenerife 80-69.

 

  • Tenerife have won 19 of their last 20 home games in the BCL, including the last 11 in a row; they have won their three home games against teams from Germany, each by a double-digit margin.
  • Tenerife have conceded just 37.7% of their opponent's attempted field goals, the best defensive percentage from the field amongst all teams in the league this season.
  • Ludwigsburg have alternated wins and losses in their last seven away games in the BCL, losing the most recent one (75-82 vs. Sassari); they have suffered their heaviest defeat away from home the last time they went to Spain, against UCAM Murcia in January 2019 (47-73).
  • Ludwigsburg have grabbed an average of 15 offensive rebounds per game, a joint-high in the BCL this season; therefore, they have scored the highest average of second chance points per game (21.3).
  • Ludwigsburg's Justin Simon is one of the two players, alongside Tomislav Zubcic, to have scored 10+ points and grab 5+ rebounds in four different games this season in the BCL; he scored 26 points in the last game against Sassari, the most for a player with Ludwigsburg in a game in the competition this season.

Game 4: Filou Oostende (2-2) vs. Tofas Bursa (3-1) - Group F

Where: Oostende, Belgium

When: 20:00

First meeting this season: Bursa defeated Oostende 92-83.

 

  • Oostende have won their last two BCL games but have won more in a row only once since the beginning of 2019-20, it was in December 2019-January 2020 (W3); they won their last game by 33 points (99-66 vs. Kalev/Cramo), the first time they won a BCL games by more than 20 points.
  • Oostende's Levi Randolph is averaging 17 points per game this season in the BCL, after averaging 7.9 points per game in his previous season in the competition, in 2017-18 with Sassari and Strasbourg; he scored the most points in a BCL game during a home game against a Turkish team, 27 points against Karsiyaka in October 2017.
  • Bursa have only lost one of their last six games in the BCL, after losing the previous four; they have won each of their four away games played in the regular season in the competition.
  • Bursa have scored 26.5 points per game in the first quarter, the highest scoring average of any team in the first 10 minutes of the game in the BCL this season.
  • Bursa's Zubcic is one of two players, alongside Justin Simon, to have scored 10+ points and grab 5+ rebounds in four different games this season in the BCL; he achieved that only twice in his nine games in the competition last season.