MIES (Switzerland) - What can happen on a four-game schedule featured on Tuesday night in Season 11 of the Basketball Champions League Group Stage? The easy and quick answer: a lot.
The long answer: record-breaking performances, underrated outcomes, surprising results, and instant-winning debuts. Stay with us to find out more about an eventful night in Hungary, Czechia, Türkiye, and Croatia.
Shining Perl
If you're a fan of precious gemstones, there are a couple of spots you shouldn't miss in Szombathely, where the Amber Road enlightened Roman times: the Savaria Museum and the Schaeffler Arena Savaria.
The second one is where, for basically a decade now, Zoltan Perl has been shining brightly for Falco Vulcano Szombathely, making history for the Hungarians. Most recently, he did it in their 85-72 win over Salon Vilpas.
Following his masterful night of 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, he has now become the player with the most consecutive games scoring in double figures in BCL history, at 21.
He did it the Perl way, by coming off the bench.
Moreover, Falco's captain has also now scored 20 or more points in 19 BCL games, the most by any player in league history. Talking about a night for the ages for the 31-year-old, who helped his team breaking their seven-game losing streak in the competition.
Making history in his hometown must have felt particularly sweet for Perl, who contributed to extending another positive streak for the yellow-and-black Hungarian side: they have now won their first game at home in six of their seven last BCL seasons.
On Tuesday, they managed to pull it off despite shooting 25-of-72 FG.
After his amazing debut with 28 points and 7 assists against AEK BC, Leland Walker joined TJ Shorts II in another list:
Walker is now the second player in BCL history to record more than 20 points and more than 5 assists in each of his first two appearances in the competition. The whole offence in Vilpas revolves around him.
He still had a hell of a losing effort with 21 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Group C will resume on Wednesday, as AEK BC will play for the second game in a row at home, hosting Windrose Giants Antwerp in SUNEL Arena at 18:00 CET - the opening game of the day.
Amine "Mr. Underrated" Noua
In the Opening Round of Season 11, we were all excited about Willy Hernangomez's outstanding debut. Throughout the past few years, everybody has appreciated Kendrick Perry's all-around package.
And more: Cameron Hunt put up 31 points during the weekend, and he might have received a lot of attention.
But basketball games are also won thanks to those players who don't make headlines, who aren't blinded by the brightest lights.
Amine Noua is one of them, and he led the Spaniards to the 79-63 win on Tuesday.
Already proving his immediate contribution for the French national team in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers, he stepped up for 20 points on 4-of-8 from downtown over BK KVIS Pardubice.
Don't get us wrong: he wasn't the only one providing huge plays for Unicaja, that have led for 39:12 minutes in the Enteria Arena, outrebounding the opponents 53-36: Willy Hernangomez (10 points and 11 rebounds) and Kendrick Perry (15 points and 7 assists) stepped up as well.
Over the course of his coaching career, Txus Vidorreta has reached four straight wins early into the season several times, both in Valencia and Tenerife. After some adjustments, the same has now happened in Malaga.
Already.
I have great respect for Pardubice, the character of their players, and the emotion and high pace with which they play.
"We especially needed to control the three-point line, and we did it really well during the first half. We controlled their best options, and we found advantages both inside and outside," Unicaja's coach continued.
Some celebrate winning streaks, while others suffered their second straight defeat: despite Zed Key's 16 points and 11 rebounds, Pardubice became the first Czech team to lose their two opening games in league history.
With Unicaja on top and Pardubice currently at the bottom, winless, Group E might split into two different mini-groups: Pallacanestro Reggiana will try to go up 2-0, hosting BC Juventus Utena at 20:00 CET on Wednesday.
The perfect debut for Gala's newcomers
Debuting with a 20-point loss on the road in Zagreb felt like an alarm for Galatasaray MCT Technic, which decided on some quick changes early into the season. It all led to an immediate impact.
As he has done previously in Monaco, Manuchar Markoishvili didn't disappoint in his first coaching outcome for the Turkish side, and neither did KJ Simpson Jr., leading Galatasaray to the 83-77 win over SIG Strasbourg.
After representing the yellow-and-red side of Istanbul on the court in 2013-14, the 39-year-old didn't miss a single second in showing the first glimpses of his coaching leadership against the French side.
"If I say the game was easy, you’re going to laugh. It was very difficult. It was my first game in the Basketball Champions League, and my first win. We played against an extremely unorthodox team with a short rotation and small lineups, sometimes even with five guards. We had to adapt, and we had to find a way," he said.
The freshly-looking Galatasaray gave huge responsibilities to another new face in town: KJ Simpson Jr. had his BCL debut with the Turkish lions, ending with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists in the win.
Once again, Galatasaray's bench was absolutely huge for the hosts, as three players who ended in double digits (Simpson with 17, Alen Smailagic, 16, and Jerome Robinson Jr., 10) were non-starters against Strasbourg.
Strasbourg's unpleasant record in Türkiye continues, having won just one of their last six BCL games there. Talking about non-starters' contribution, teenager Maxence Lemoine came off the bench for 21 points and 5 assists.
At 19 years and 123 days old, he became the second-youngest player to post a 20-point, 5-assist game in BCL history, behind only Nolan Traore (18 years, 126 days; 27 points, 5 assists).
Four-way tie at 3-3?
Could we consider Group B the most balanced in the 2026-27 Regular Season? After all, following Tuesday's results, Galatasaray, Strasbourg, Cibona, and Legia Warszawa are all tied at 1-1.
That's why the Polish side immediately bounced back from a 38-point road defeat to Strasbourg with a victory away from home, this time in Zagreb: Heiko Rannula's team prevailed 95-77 over Cibona.
An offensive that led to not only their highest-scoring game ever in the BCL, but also the largest victory margin in the club's BCL history. It's the first time they have scored more than 90 points in the league.
Leading Poland's representative to such an historic road victory, Kristers Zoriks and Arguster Daniels became the first pair of teammates to have scored more than 20 points in a BCL game for Legia.
The Latvian guard concluded his night in Zagreb with 21 points, the same amount registered by his backcourt partner, who also added 6 assists to the mix. Gyorgy Goloman followed them with 15 points and 6 rebounds.
Without Khalif Battle, who erupted for 32 points in their first home fixture against Galatasaray, Cibona still hasn't won back-to-back games since their first season in the BCL, back in 2016-17.
Rickey McGill tried to step in, getting more responsibilities to cover Battle's absence, and concluded with a losing effort of 18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He wasn't enough for Cibona, which never led.
Cibona blew an opportunity to start at 2-0, which could be crucial in such a close game. We already had one four-way tie at 3-3 in a group, with Telekom Baskets Bonn, Hapoel Holon, Rio Breogan and Bursaspor back in 2023-24.
Don't be surprised if this becomes the second one.