MIES (Switzerland) - Everything is already locked in Group J of the Round of 16 in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL: AEK BC and ALBA BERLIN advanced to the Quarter-Finals.
Wednesday's menu, however, features crucial clashes in Group I, where the two tickets for the upcoming phase are still on the line. Waiting to see who will come out on top, here's our 24 must-know facts for the day.
Galatasaray MCT Technic vs. Rytas Vilnius - Group I, 18:00 CET
Galatasaray MCT Technic have won their last four games in the BCL, but they have lost their last two played in Türkiye; however, they have never lost three games in a row in their own country in the competition.
Rytas Vilnius have won their last two games but have never won three games in a row in the Round of 16 during a single BCL campaign; they have scored 100+ points in each of their last two games, their first such run in the BCL.
Rytas have drawn more fouls per game than any other team in the BCL this season (24.5); consequently, they have attempted (28.2) and made (21.5) the most free throws per game among all teams.
John Meeks (Galatasaray) scored 26 points last week against Hapoel Netanel Holon, his best scoring performance in the BCL, improving his previous record of 19 points that he scored against Rytas in the reverse fixture; he has made 3+ three-pointers in three of his last four BCL appearances after never making more than one in any of his first seven games.
Simonas Lukosius (Rytas) scored 18 points last week against Le Mans, his first BCL game with 15+ points scored. All those points came from three-point range, his six shots made from behind the arc being a record for a player with Rytas in a BCL game.
Both teams lost during the weekend: Galatasaray suffered the tough 114-76 road defeat to Mersin Sports Club, while Rytas weren't successful in the big-time clash against Zalgiris, losing 98-81 in Kaunas.
Le Mans Sarthe Basket vs. Hapoel Netanel Holon - Group I, 18:00 CET
Le Mans Sarthe Basket have lost their last two BCL games after winning the previous six. They have conceded at least 94 points in each of their last two games after conceding that many points in only one of their previous 51 games.
Holon have lost their last five BCL games and will fail to reach the Quarter-Finals for the fourth season in a row. In case of a defeat, they will become the 6th team to lose all of their six games of a Round of 16 during a single campaign (VEF Riga in 2021, Treviso in 2022, Bahçeşehir in 2023, AEK in 2024 & Falco Szombathely in 2025).
Holon (1.21) and Le Mans (1.18) are averaging the most points scored per attempted three-pointer in the BCL this season. However, Holon have made fewer than seven three-pointers in two of their last three games, as often as in their previous 22 games.
Trevor Hudgins became the first player to have 25+ points and 5+ assists with Le Mans in a BCL game (28pts, 5ast against Rytas) last week. However, he is yet to score more than 15 points in consecutive BCL games and has never scored more than 15 points in a game at home.
Jordan McRae (Holon) has scored 17+ points in each of his three BCL games against French teams, averaging 26.0 points in that span. He made 24 of his 25 free throws attempted in those three games.
Le Mans came back from Bourg-en-Bresse with a 98-86 defeat; Holon didn't play during the weekend.
Tofas Bursa vs. Karditsa Iaponiki - Group J, 18:00 CET
Tofas Bursa have lost seven of their last eight games in the BCL Round of 16, including the last three. However, the sole win in that span was against Karditsa Iaponiki in the reverse fixture (93-79).
Karditsa have lost their last five BCL games, more defeats than in their first eight games (W4 L4). They were leading at the end of the third quarter in three of those last five defeats.
Tofas are averaging 40.0 points in the paint per game in the BCL this season, the most among all teams that played more than six games; however, Karditsa have conceded 40+ points in the paint only once in their six road games in the competition.
Tolga Gecim (Tofas) has had four games with 10+ assists in the BCL, including against AEK last week (10), the most games with 10+ assists among the players yet to record a double-double in the competition; in fact, he has reached double-digit in scoring in only one of his 63 games in the BCL (15 against Cholet in January).
Brandon Jefferson (Karditsa) has scored at least 19 points in five of his six road games in the BCL, averaging 21.0 points per game in that span; as a comparison, he is averaging 11.1 points per game when playing at home in the competition this season.
Led by Marek Blazevic's double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, Tofas won 115-113 in overtime against Bursaspor on the road; Karditsa didn't play during the weekend in Greece.
ALBA BERLIN vs. AEK BC - Group J, 19:00 CET
ALBA have won nine of their last 10 BCL games, but the sole defeat in that run came against AEK in the reverse fixture (80-88). However, they have scored fewer than 80 points in each of their last two games after scoring 80+ points in each of the previous eight.
AEK have won 11 of their last 12 games in the BCL, including all their five games in this Round of 16. They have scored 90+ points in each of their last three games and will attempt to equal their best such run, four straight games in March-October 2020 – overall, they have scored 90+ points in 34 BCL games, only Holon have done that more often (35).
ALBA are averaging 9.6 steals per game in the BCL this season, the most among all teams, and so have the second-highest average of points scored from turnover (18.7 – Unicaja, 21.7).
Justin Bean (ALBA) has scored 10+ points in each of his five home games in the BCL, averaging 13.2 points per game in that span; he made at least one three-pointer in each of his five home games.
RaiQuan Gray had 13 points and 15 rebounds last week against Tofas, a rebounding record for a player with AEK in a BCL game. 11 of those rebounds were grabbed under the offensive glass, a joint-high among all players in a game in the competition and a record for this 2025-26 season.
Difficult weekend for both of these teams: ALBA was beaten 99-68 away from home by Syntainics MBC, and AEK lost 103-78 on the road against Panathinaikos in the Derby of Athens.