17 October, 2023
05 May, 2024
31 Dylan Ennis (UCAM)
19/12/2023
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40 things to look out for in Wednesday's games

 

MIES (Switzerland) - Wednesday is the final day of action in the Regular Season, so needless to say it's also the last-chance saloon for teams that hope to snatch up the few places that are still up for grabs in the Round of 16 or the Play-Ins. A detailed look at this week's permutations can be found here.

Here are 40 things you need to know ahead of Wednesday's eight games:

Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (4-1) v SL Benfica (1-4)

Group G - 18:00 CET - Belgrade, Serbia


Levi Randolph had a near double-double of 18 points and 9 rebounds in the reverse fixture

● Jerusalem allowed fewer than 80 points in each of their last four BCL games, and if they give up no more than 80 points also on Wednesday, it will be the first time they achieve this in five consecutive BCL games.

● Benfica's current 4-game losing slide is their longest ever in the BCL. Only one of their last 11 games in the competition was decided by a single-digit margin, it was their most recent road game, the 76-74 loss at PAOK.

● Jerusalem's defensive rebounding rate of 73.3 percent is the highest in the league this season. However, Benfica had exactly 16 offensive rebounds in each of their last two games in the competition.

● Levi Randolph has averaged 17.7 points per game in the last 10 BCL appearances in which he played 30 or more minutes. He led Jerusalem in scoring in the reverse fixture in Portugal with 18 points and also had 9 rebounds, a team-high for a Jerusalem player this season.

● Benfica’s Terrell Carter is the second-leading shot-blocker in the BCL with 11 blocks so far this season, and had 2 or more blocks in four of his five games.


Tofas Bursa (2-3) v UCAM Murcia (4-1)

Group H - 18:00 CET - Bursa, Turkiye


Murcia's Troy Caupain scored his season-high 18 points when the two teams met in Spain

● Tofas, who are coming off a 99-65 win against Igokea m:tel, have not won consecutive games in the BCL Regular Season since October-December 2021 (W3). Tofas are 0-6 in their last six games against Spanish teams.

● Murcia are 21-4 in their last 25 games in the BCL Regular Season, but all four defeats came on the road. Murcia are 5-0 in their last five Regular Season games against Turkish teams.

● Murcia have the best defense so far this season, allowed 96.3 points per 100 possessions. Tofas however have the most productive offense, averaging 91.4 points per game.

● Zeljko Sakic of Tofas scored 10 or more points in 15 of his 16 home games in the BCL, including his 10 most recent. The Croatian forward shot 50 percent or better from three-point range in nine of his last 10 BCL games at home.

● Murcia's Troy Caupain scored his season-high 18 points in the reverse fixture, where he led all Murcia scorers. In fact, he scored exactly 18 points also the previous time he faced Tofas, as a Darussafaka player in the 2021-22 season.


Igokea m:tel (0-5) v Bertram Derthona Tortona (4-1)

Group H - 18:00 CET - Laktasi, Bosnia and Herzegovina


Leonardo Candi is leading the league in Steals-to-Turnover ratio

● Igokea are on an 8-game losing streak in the BCL (including the tail end of last season), with those defeats coming with an average margin of 15.5 points. Their defense gave up 90+ points in five of their last seven BCL games, something that had happened in only one of their first 27 games in the competition.

● Tortona, who are coming off their first defeat in the BCL (87-75 at UCAM Murcia), have progressively given up more points from one game to another in each of their five games in the competition.

● Igokea's 3 made three-pointers in the reverse fixture in Italy is the club's lowest ever mark in a BCL Regular Season game. Igokea are bottom of the league in three-point shooting percentage this season, converting only 27.2 percent of their shots from behind the arc.

● Igokea's Nikola Maric posted his BCL career highs in both scoring (16 points) and rebounds (7) in the reverse fixture in Italy. He has played in 12 BCL games and 2023-24 is already his best campaign in rebounding, as he has 18 boards.

● Tortona's Leonardo Candi is the league's joint-fourth leader in steals with 11, but he is leading the league in Steals-to-Turnover ratio (5.5). He dished his season-high 6 assists in the reverse fixture, 4 more than in his four other BCL games combined.


PAOK mateco (3-2) v Galatasaray EKMAS (2-3)

Group G - 18:30 CET - Thessaloniki, Greece

The last time these two teams met, Elvar Fridriksson came up with an historic triple-double

● PAOK are 3-0 in their last three home games in the BCL, their longest run since a 5-game win streak between they went through between October 2018 and January 2019. PAOK were trailing at the end of the first quarter in each of those last three games at home.

● Galatasaray, who are coming off an 87-63 road win at Benfica, have never won two road games in a row in the BCL. They have a 1-4 record in their previous five games against Greek sides in the BCL, including the loss to PAOK in the reverse fixture in Turkiye.

● Galatasaray average 46 second-half points per game and 37 first-half points per game. This 9-point difference between first- and second-half scoring is the largest in the BCL this season. Galatasaray scored exactly 56 points in the second half of three of their last four games, after scoring 50+ points in the second half of three of their previous 31 BCL games.

● PAOK's Elvar Fridriksson registered a triple-double in the reverse fixture (19 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), the second triple-double in BCL history (Arnas Butkevicius posted the first, against PAOK actualy, in November 2017). Fridriksson however scored in single digits in each of his last three BCL games, for the first time in his BCL career.

● A player coming off the bench led Galatasaray in each of their first five BCL games this season. What's more, four of the last five Galatasaray players that registered a double-double also came off the bench, including David McCormack last week, who had 19 pts, 10reb against Benfica.


Rio Breogan (2-3) v Telekom Baskets Bonn (3-2)

Group F - 20:00 CET - Lugo, Spain


Another day, another game in double digits for Christian Sengfelder?

● Breogan won their two games at home and lost the three on the road. What all five games had in common though is that the team which was leading at the end of the first quarter won the game.

● Bonn are an impressive 11-0 in their last 11 road games played in the BCL, and were leading at half-time in each of the most recent 10. They also won their last four BCL games in Spain (this includes the two games in the 2023 Final Four).

● Bonn give up only 8.6 second-chance points per game, as the best defense in this respect in this season's BCL. They also only allow 9.4 offensive rebounds per game, and are the second-best in this category after Peristeri, who allow 8.8 per game.

● Breogan's Matas Jogela averaged 15.5 points over his last two home games in the BCL, after averaging 5.9 points over his first seven home games in the competition. He scored 10+ points in each of his previous three games against Bonn in his BCL career.

● Bonn's Christian Sengfelder will be looking on Wednesday to score in double digits in three consecutive games for the first time in his BCL career. He had 7+ rebounds in four of his last five road games in the BCL.


Hapoel Holon (3-2) v Bursaspor Info Yatirim (2-3)

Group F - 20:00 CET - Riga, Latvia


Jordan Floyd had back-to-back18-point games, including the reverse fixture

● Holon have never lost more than two games in the Regular Season since the current six-game format came into effect. They are 3-1 in their last four Regular Season games against teams from Türkiye, including the reverse fixture against Bursaspor (93-74), after losing each of their previous five such games.

● All three of Bursaspor's defeats in the BCL but also their two wins were decided by double-digit margins.

● Holon allow opponents only 13.8 assists per game and are the best defense in the competition in that respect. Bursaspor in any case are bottom of the league in assists, averaging just 12.8 per game.

● Holon's C.J. Harris has scored more than 20 points in six of his 27 appearances in the BCL, but he had three of those 20-point games against Turkish teams. That includes the reverse fixture, when Harris had 25 points and 6 assists.

● Bursaspor's Jordan Floyd scored exactly 18 points in each of their last two BCL games, including the reverse fixture. Floyd, who came off the bench in all five BCL games, scored in double figures in each of the three games in which he played 20 or more minutes.


MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg (2-3) v AEK Betsson BC (5-0)

Group D - 20:30 CET - Ludwigsburg, Germany


Yorman Polas will be looking to erase memories of the Athens encounter with a big scoring game on Wednesday

● Ludwigsburg are 2-5 in their last seven games in the BCL and each of their last three games in the competition was decided by a double-digit margin. They won both of their previous two home games against teams from Greece.

● If we also take into consideration the last three games of the 2022-23 Regular Season, an AEK win on Wednesday would mean the Greek team tie their longest-ever win streak in the BCL Regular Season: eight wins in a row between October-December 2018.

● Ludwigsburg's defense on the three-point line is the stingiest in the competition, as opponents score only 21.9 percent of their total points from three-pointers. AEK howeved do not rely on three-point shooting, as they score just 23.4 percent of their points from behind the arc (lowest in the league this season).

● Ludwigsburg's Yorman Polas is currently on the more consistent scoring run of his BCL career, as he's scored more than 10 points in each of his last three BCL games. However, the Puerto-Rican player had 2 points in the reverse fixture.

● AEK's Jordan McRae scored 12 or more points in each of his last four BCL games, after going scoreless in the reverse fixture. McRae had a combined 14 assists over his last two games, after dishing 4 over his first three league appearances.


Banco di Sardegna Sassari (1-4) v King Szczecin (2-3)

Group D - 20:30 CET - Sassari, Italy


Morris Udeze had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds

● If Sassari lose on Wednesday, they will tie their longest losing streak in BCL home games, which came about in March-October 2017, when they lost four home games in a row. Sassari however have won both of their previous two home games against Polish teams.

● Szczecin have lost both of the road games they have played so far in the BCL, and gave up 80+ points in each of them. The Polish side scored 64 points in their last road game, at AEK, the only time they scored fewer than 77 points in the competition.

● Szczecin are leading the league in points in the paint, as they produce more than half of their scoring (50.5 percent of their total points, to be precise), in the key. The Polish team scored 40+ points in the paint in four of their five games.

● If Sassari's Breein Tyree scores 18 or more points on Wednesday it will be the first time he reaches this mark in three consecutive BCL games. He had 14+ points in four of his five games this season, with the only exception being the reverse fixture in Poland, where he scored a BCL career-low 3 points.

● Szczecin's Morris Udeze has posted 15+ points and 8+ rebounds in three of his five games in the BCL. In the reverse fixture he posted his only so far double-double in the competition, of 19 points and 10 rebounds.