MIES (Switzerland) - One Greek derby, sharpshooters ready to inspire their teams' victories again, and Gianmarco Pozzecco's return to the bench in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL. What else?
Wednesday's action will mark the second consecutive day in the BCL Round of 16, with two Spanish teams welcoming their opponents in Group K. Stay with us to discover everything about this four-game schedule.
Galatasaray MCT Technic vs. Le Mans Sarthe Basket - Group I, 18:00 CET
Galatasaray MCT Technic lost their last BCL home game (79-80 vs. Pallacanestro Trieste) after winning each of the previous nine. They have won their last five home games in the Round of 16, scoring 94.0 points per game in the process.
Le Mans Sarthe Basket have won their last three games in the BCL and will attempt to match their best winning run in the competition, four games back in November 2016. They have won five of their six games played against teams from Türkiye.
Le Mans are allowing fewer fast break points (7.3), points in the paint (26.6), and points from turnovers (9.4) per game than any other team in the BCL 2025-26.
Gianmarco Pozzecco (Galatasaray) is back in the BCL after being at the helm of Dinamo Sassari between 2019 and 2021. He has lost seven of the eight games his former team played in the Round of 16.
Wilfried Yeguete (Le Mans) grabbed 10 rebounds in his last game, against Mersin Sports Club, but has not grabbed 10+ rebounds in back-to-back games since his very first two BCL appearances, in October 2016; he grabbed 13 rebounds the last time he faced Galatasaray, in March 2023.
James Palmer Jr. had 19 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds to lead Galatasaray to an 82-72 win against Bahcesehir; Le Mans lost 110-92 away from home against Paris despite Trevor Hudgins' 28-point effort.
AEK BC vs. Karditsa Iaponiki - Group J, 18:00 CET
AEK BC have won 12 of their last 13 home games in the BCL, including each of the most recent four; however, they have lost two of their three home games played against Greek teams but won the last one (79-76 in January 2025 vs. Promitheas).
Karditsa Iaponiki have won their last two BCL games, as many wins as in their first six outings; they have conceded more than 80 points in each of their four road games (W2 L2).
AEK are conceding only 0.98 points per possession on average in the BCL this season, the lowest among all teams; Karditsa, on the other hand, have the highest average among all the teams competing in this Round of 16 (1.18 allowed per possession).
RaiQuan Gray (AEK) has scored 10+ points in each of his last five home games in the BCL (12.6ppg on average) and has averaged 5.8 rebounds per contest in that span; he scored 12+ points in each of his four Round of 16 games last season (15.5ppg on average).
Brandon Jefferson (Karditsa) has scored 15+ points in each of his five away games with more than 30 minutes played in the BCL, averaging 20.4 points in that span, and scored 20+ points in each of the most recent three such games. He averaged 14.5 points per game in his previous two meetings with AEK in the competition.
The two teams have faced each other during the weekend in the Greek League as well, with AEK prevailing 79-71 on the road against Karditsa, propelled by Frank Bartley's 30 points.
Unicaja vs. Fitness First Wurzburg Baskets - Group K, 20:30 CET
Unicaja have won 31 of their last 32 games in the BCL, including the most recent 13. They have won their last 10 home games played in the Round of 16, scoring more than 90 points in all three played last season.
Fitness First Wurzburg Baskets have won their last three road games in the BCL, all those games ending with a margin of at least 13 points, after each of their first seven games far from home being decided by margins of fewer than eight points. They lost two of their three road games in the Round of 16 last season.
Unicaja have scored 25.2% of their total points in the BCL this season following a turnover from their opponents, the highest percentage of all teams. Wurzburg, instead, are the team to have seen the highest share of their points scored from second-chance situations (19.3%).
Kendrick Perry (Unicaja) has scored 10+ points in each of his last 10 home games in the BCL and added 5+ assists in half of those games; he is averaging 16.9 points and 6.3 assists when playing at home in the Round of 16 in the competition.
Marcus Carr (Wurzburg) has scored 19+ points in three of his four road games in the BCL, and he is averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 assists when playing away from home in the competition.
Unicaja beat Granada 88-79 during the weekend as Kendrick Perry dropped a team-high 18 points; Marcus Carr contributed with 20 points, but Wurzburg lost 92-86 away from home against Bamberg.
Joventut Badalona vs. Elan Chalon - Group K, 20:30 CET
Joventut Badalona have won their six BCL games. However, the last two ended with margins of exactly two points after each of the first four ended with double-digit margins. They have won the first quarter in each of their six games and will try to do what only Virtus Bologna have done before this season: to win their first seven games in the competition.
Elan Chalon have won their last four road games in the BCL after winning only two of the first seven. They have scored 90+ points in two of their last three road games after never scoring more than 81 points in any of the first eight.
Joventut Badalona (23) and Elan Chalon (22.3) are two of the four teams making the most assists per game in the BCL this season; the Spanish side also boast the best ratio of assists per turnover among all teams this term (2.27).
Cameron Hunt (Joventut) has scored 15+ points in each of his last two BCL games but has never enjoyed a longer such run in his 28 appearances in the league. He has averaged 15.6 points per game in his last seven Round of 16 appearances played as a starter.
Nate Darling (Chalon) has averaged 17.8 points per game in his four BCL appearances, all played as a bench player, making 3+ three-pointers in each of the most recent three. It’s the 4th-best average coming from the bench among all players this season.
Joventut lost 74-71 at home in the Catalan derby against Girona; Nate Darling confirmed his status with 25 points against Dijon, but he wasn't enough to avoid a 94-91 road defeat.