MIES (Switzerland) - The opening week of BCL's Season 9 is behind us and Week 2 starts on Tuesday with a four-game slate. All Group A teams are in action, while there is also one game from each of Group D and Group H on offer.
Here's a closer look at some facts and figures for each game:
FIT/ONE WÜRZBURG BASKETS vs. IGOKEA M:TEL (Group A, 18:00 CET)
FIT/One Würzburg Baskets won their first ever game in the BCL, last week, (85-76 vs. Holon) and look to become only the third German team to win its first two games in the competition, after medi Bayreuth in 2017-18 and RASTA Vechta in 2019-20.
Igokea m:tel won their first game of this BCL 2024-25 (86-80 vs. Nanterre) after losing all six games they played last season. The Bosnia and Herzegovina champions lost their first road game in each of their previous four BCL campaigns.
Igokea m:tel shot 52 percent from 3-point range, 12 of 23, against Nanterre 92 in the opener. This was only the second time they made more than 50 percent of their attempts from behind the arc in a game in a BCL game (they shot 57 percent, 13 of 23, in a game against VEF Riga in March 2021).
Owen Klassen had four steals in his first BCL game with FIT/One Würzburg Baskets, against Hapoel Holon), which is his new BCL career high after 36 appearances in the competition. Klassen is back in the BCL after last competing in 2019-20 with Telenet Giants Antwerp, when he averaged 10.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in home games and 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in road games.
Bryce Jones was Igokea’s leading scorer in the opening game against Nanterre 92 with 18 points, and made three 3-pointers, more than in any of his first 11 games in the BCL. Jones has scored 12 or more points in six BCL games in his career, and his teams won all six.
PERISTERI DOMINO’S vs. UCAM MURCIA (Group H, 18:00 CET)
Peristeri Domino’s and UCAM Murcia have faced each other once before in the BCL, in the 3rd-Place Game in last April's Final Four in Belgrade, and the Spanish side prevailed 87-84 after a hard-fought contest.
Peristeri Domino's have lost their last three BCL games (including the last two games of the previous season) but have never lost four games in a row in the competition. The Greek team have won their last three home games in the BCL and will attempt to win four in a row on their own court for the first time in the competition.
UCAM Murcia lost their first game of this BCL season (103-97 against Manisa Basket) but the last time they lost consecutive games in the Regular Season was in January-February 2018 (L3). Murcia are 1-2 on their previous three trips to Greece in the competition, but each of those games was decided by a margin of five points or fewer.
C.J. Harris was Peristeri’s top scorer last week in their defeat against FMP SoccerBet, scoring 21 points despite coming off the bench. Harris has averaged 16.9 points over his last 12 BCL Regular Season games, scoring 15 or more points in eight of those games.
UCAM Murcia's Ludvig Hakanson scored a team-high 22 points against Peristeri Domino’s during the 3rd-Place game last April, and this is his only +20-point game in 36 BCL appearances.
GALATASARAY vs. ERA NYMBURK (Group D, 19:00 CET)
Galatasaray won 103-91 against RASTA Vechta on Gameday 1, the Turkish team's highest scoring BCL game ever. Galatasaray have now won their last three home games in the competition (if we include the last two of the previous season) and it they win on Tuesday they will make it four in a row for the first time ever in the competition.
ERA Nymburk have won their last two BCL games, both on the road (if we include the last game of the 2022-23 season), after winning only one of their previous eight games. The Czech champions a 1-5 in their last six games against teams from Türkiye in the BCL.
Galatasaray made 32 two-point shots against RASTA Vechta last week, which is a new team high for them in the competition, but also a BCL record for a team in a BCL opening week. They averaged 1.33 points per possession on Gameday 1, the most by any team last week.
Galatasaray's Will Cummings, who scored 9 points against RASTA Vechta on Gameday 1, has never scored fewer than 10 points in consecutive BCL games (19 appearances). Cummings had come off the bench in only one BCL game prior to the season, in November 2016 against ERA Nymburk, and he scored his joint-BCL high 21 points.
Nymburk's Nighael Ceaser became on Gameday 1 the first player in the last five years to post more than 15 points and 5 rebounds in a BCL game in fewer than 16 minutes on the court. The center had 16 points and 6 rebounds in 15 minutes and 41 seconds of action. Kendrick Ray and Vojtech Hruban are so far the only Nymburk player in BCL history to have posted consecutive +15-point, +5-rebound games.
HAPOEL NETANEL HOLON vs. NANTERRE 92 (Group A, 20:30 CET)
*This game takes place in Szombathely, Hungary
Hapoel Netanel Holon and Nanterre 92 have faced each other twice before in the BCL, in the 2018-19 Regular Season. The away team on the day won in each of the two games, and both times by a 12-point margin.
Hapoel Netanel Holon, who are coming off an 85-76 loss toWürzburg Baskets in Week 1, have not lost their first two games of a BCL season since 2019-20 (when they fell to Turk Telekom and Filou Oostende). The Israeli team are 4-0 in their last four games against French teams in the BCL Regular Season.
Nanterre 92 have lost their last two BCL games, both on the road, after winning seven of their previous eight games in the competition. Six of Nanterre's last nine BCL games were decided by a single-digit margin.
Elijah Mitrou-Long scored 12 or more points in eight of his last nine games in the BCL, including his first appearance with Hapoel Netanel Holon, as he had 12 against Würzburg. Mitrou-Long was on the winning side in six of the nine games in which he scored 12+ points, but lost his last two such games.
Nanterre's Desi Rodriguez registered last week his first double-double in 10 BCL games, with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Igokea m:tel. Rodriguez has scored 12 or more points in nine of his 10 games in the competition.