MIES (Switzerland) - Season X of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL has finally started on Tuesday. All eyes are now on the first Wednesday action.
Eight more exciting games are ahead of us, so make sure to be prepared before you tune in to those clashes: here are 48 interesting facts, stats, and domestic results from the teams' weekend performances to know.
Hapoel Netanel Holon vs. Bursaspor Basketbol - Group C, October 8 at 17:00 CET
Hapoel Netanel Holon are playing their ninth season in the BCL; they have won 24 BCL games after trailing at halftime, while only AEK BC have pulled more such wins than them in league history (W26) - Holon's four victories in 2024-25 all happened in games in which they were trailing after 20 minutes.
Holon have won seven of their nine BCL games when playing their home games in Hungary, allowing only 70.3 points per game in the process; they have won four of the last five such games there, despite trailing at halftime in each of those five fixtures.
Bursaspor Basketbol are returning to the BCL after taking part in the 2023-24 season, when they also faced Holon: both games were played in neutral venues and were won by the team losing at halftime; five of Bursaspor's six games in the BCL have ended with double-digit margins.
Holon's Jordan McRae is back in the BCL after playing for AEK in 2023-24; McRae has scored 20 or more points in four of his 12 games played in the competition, but he was on the winning side in just one of those four encounters.
After playing eight BCL games in 2022-23 with Igokea m:tel, Bryant Crawford, now with Bursaspor, will play his second season in the competition: he has scored 10+ points in each of his last seven games in the BCL, including in his two matchups with Holon (16 & 13pts).
Both teams didn't have a great start to the season in their respective domestic leagues: Holon lost 85-79 in the competition's opener to Galil Gilboa in overtime at home, while Bursaspor suffered back-to-back defeats in Türkiye to Merkezefendi and Efes.
NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz vs. Patrioti Levice - Group F, October 8 at 18:00 CET
NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz are back in the BCL after their stint in 2016-17: they won two of their 14 league games that season, but both victories happened at home (73-72 vs. Dinamo Sassari; 86-75 vs. Zielona Gora).
Patrioti Levice will become the first team from Slovakia to feature in the BCL; before this season, of the last 18 teams to debut in the BCL, only six have won their first game on the road.
Ryland Holt is going for his second consecutive season in the BCL, after playing for ERA Nymburk in 2024-25: he is still looking for his first game with 10+ points scored in the competition, but was able to make a three-pointer in each of his three games at home in the competition.
Gabor Rudner is the only current Szolnoki player who took part in the BCL with the Hungarian side during their only previous campaign, in 2016-17, when he was only 18 years old. He played just a total of 30 minutes in five appearances that season, with 2 points scored, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Levice duo Will Carius (21.0ppg & 8.3rpg) and Andre Wesson Jr (18.3ppg & 8.0rpg) were two of the three players to average 18+ points and 8+ rebounds per game during the BCL Qualification Round Tournaments in September (also Javian Davis).
Szolnoki and Levice are both expected to have satisfactory campaigns in Hungary and Slovakia, as each of them started with two consecutive victories in their respective national leagues.
Tofas Bursa vs. Bnei Penlink Herzliya - Group D, October 8 at 19:00 CET
Tofas Bursa are back in the BCL after not taking part in the 2024-25 season: Tofas have won their opening game in three of their previous four seasons in the league, including the only time they started at home (92-83 vs. Filou Oostende in 2021-22).
Bnei Penlink Herzliya are returning to the BCL after their only previous campaign in 2022-23: all their three road games that season ended with margins higher than 10 points, losing two and winning once.
Hugo Besson, now with Tofas, has scored 15 or more points in 10 of his 14 games played in the BCL (all with Manisa); Besson has scored a total of 241 points in the competition, the third most among all players born in the 21st century: Keye van der Vuurst de Vries, 285pts, and Vernon Carey Jr., 249pts.
Tolga Gecim (Tofas) has already played 50 games in the BCL; however, he is the player who has played the most games in the competition without ever reaching double-digit scoring.
Chinanu Onuaku (Bnei Herzliya) will be back in the BCL after playing three games with Sassari at the start of the 2022-23 season. During that stint, he averaged 18.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game.
Going up against Galatasaray in the BCL Turkish derby, Tofas lost 93-91 despite a 25-point showdown by Marek Blazevic; Bnei Herzliya lost too, as Hapoel Jerusalem prevailed 105-98 during the weekend.
ALBA BERLIN vs. Elan Chalon - Group B, October 8 at 20:00 CET
ALBA BERLIN are in the BCL for the first time: before this season, already nine German teams played in the league; the three most recent German teams debuting in the BCL have won their first-ever game at home in the competition (NINERS Chemnitz and Würzburg last season, and also RASTA Vechta in 2019-20).
Elan Chalon are back in the BCL after taking part in the 2017-18 season; they failed to progress further in the Regular Season last time out and lost their two games against a German team, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg, by margins of 14+ points.
Pedro Calles, now with ALBA, has already coached two BCL teams with both also being from Germany (RASTA in 2019-20 & EWE Baskets Oldenburg in 2023-24); Calles is yet to lead a BCL team past the Regular Season.
ALBA's Martynas Echodas has already played 31 games in the BCL (26 with Rytas, 5 with Manisa), averaging 13.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game; he has scored more than 10 points in each of his last nine BCL appearances and grabbed at least 5 rebounds in each of the games in that run.
Zac Cuthbertson (Chalon) is entering his second season in the BCL, after representing King Szczecin in 2023-24: he had one double-double in his six appearances, precisely against a team from Germany (10pts, 10reb vs. Ludwigsburg).
After losing in the Bundesliga's opener to Trier, ALBA quickly bounced back by beating Jena 97-78. Chalon had a wonderful weekend, as they managed to take down Monaco 104-99 on the road in the Principality: Zac Cuthbertson (24 points and 12 rebounds) and Lionel Gaudoux (21 points and 8 rebounds) took over.
KK Spartak Office Shoes vs. Le Mans Sarthe Basket – Group H, October 8 at 20:00 CET
KK Spartak Office Shoes are the fourth Serbian team competing in the BCL, after FMP in 2024-25 and Mega Leks and Partizan, both in 2016-17; among those three previous teams, Partizan and FMP won their home debut in the BCL.
This will be Le Mans Sarthe Basket's fourth season in the BCL, and the French side will try to win their first road game in a season for the first time in the competition.
Le Mans have scored 80+ points in four of their 20 road games in the BCL, winning all four games; on the other hand, they have won just three of their 16 road fixtures when scoring below that.
Shevon Thompson (Spartak) is back in the BCL after playing two seasons previously: he averaged 13.5 points per game with Oostende in 2019-20 but only 6.1 per game with Brose Bamberg in 2020-21; he is the only player to have had 15+ points and 15+ rebounds in multiple games in the competition (2).
TaShawn Thomas (Le Mans) could play his 60th game in the BCL (14 with Holon, 38 with Jerusalem, 7 with Derthona Basket); he needs only seven points to reach 800 points scored in the BCL, only three players reached that total in 60 or fewer games before: Zoltan Perl 49 games, Giorgi Shermadini 54 games, and Joe Ragland 58 games.
Both teams are coming off significant results domestically: Spartak upset Buducnost 97-93 in overtime in the ABA League, while Le Mans beat Paris 95-89 for their second consecutive positive results in the LNB.
Trapani Shark vs. La Laguna Tenerife - Group D, October 8 at 20:30 CET
Trapani Shark will become the 13th Italian team to play in the competition; they will try to become only the second Italian team to host and defeat La Laguna Tenerife in the BCL history, after Sassari in 2020-21 - the Spanish side have won six of their seven games in Italy.
Tenerife are one of the three teams preparing to play their 10th season in the BCL, alongside AEK and Oostende; Tenerife have played and won the most games in league history (G156, W118) – in fact, they are the only team to have won 90 or more games in the competition.
Tenerife scored 123.2 points per 100 possessions in 2024-25, the third highest offensive ratio by any team in a single BCL season: in fact, two of the three highest offensive ratios in a single league campaign belong to Tenerife (also 124.1 in 2017-18).
Timmy Allen, now with Trapani, has played nine games in the BCL, it was last season with Oostende; he reached double-digit in scoring in each of his nine appearances (16.0 ppg), making at least one three-pointer in each of those games.
Aaron Doornekamp (Tenerife) could play his 100th game in a BCL, joining a group of four players that have already reached that mark (Tim Abromaitis, Linos Chrysikopoulos, Bruno Fitipaldo, Vojtech Hruban). However, he will be the first one to reach that milestone while playing for only one team.
Trapani took down Trieste 91-87 on the road in another domestic clash between BCL participants, with 21 points from Timmy Allen. Facing BAXI Manresa in a rematch of the 2022 BCL Final, Giorgi Shermadini (28 points and 7 rebounds) and Marcelinho Huertas (20 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists) propelled Tenerife's 104-93 win.
Unicaja vs. Mersin Sports Club - Group G, October 8 at 20:30 CET
Unicaja are going into their fifth BCL season: after winning the title in the last two seasons, they are aiming to become the first team to win three titles in league history. Unicaja have won 77 percent of their league games (W47 and L14), the second-highest winning percentage in league history, behind Monaco (82.5%, W33 and L7).
Mersin Sports Club will play their first game in the BCL, becoming the 14th Turkish club to do it; seven of the nine Turkish teams to have played their first BCL game on the road have been victorious. However, Unicaja are undefeated at home against teams from Türkiye in the BCL (W5).
Unicaja scored 125.9 points per 100 possessions in the 2024-25 season, the highest offensive ratio of any team in a single BCL campaign; there were three occasions in which a bench unit have averaged 43+ points per game in a BCL season, with all those three being by Unicaja: 50.2ppg in 2024-25, 44.1ppg in 2023-24 and also 43.8ppg in 2022-23.
Kendrick Perry has scored a total of 510 points with Unicaja in the BCL, the most of any player with the club; in fact, he has scored in double figures in nine of his last 10 games in the BCL and has made 96.4 percent of his attempted free throws in that span (27-of-28).
Anthony Cowan (Mersin) has scored in double figures in 14 of his 15 appearances in the BCL, including in his two games against Unicaja: 11 and 14 points in his two matchups with the reigning champions. In fact, his last two games in the competition were precisely against Unicaja, back in the 2024 quarter-finals.
First game in the 2025-26 ACB, first win for Unicaja, which beat Bilbao 86-68 with Olek Balcerowski dropping 17 points; Mersin, instead, lost 99-86 at home to Besiktas despite Anthony Cowan's 21 points.
Filou Oostende vs. Karditsa Iaponiki - Group G, October 8 at 20:30 CET
Filou Oostende are going into their 10th BCL season, being one of the three teams to have competed in each season thus far (also AEK and Tenerife); however, the Belgian side have won their debut game only once in their previous nine seasons (74-66 at Telekom Baskets Bonn in 2017-18).
Karditsa Iaponiki will become the eighth Greek team competing in the BCL: five of the previous seven teams from Greece have won their first-ever game in the competition.
After being coached by Dario Gjergja in their nine previous BCL seasons, Oostende will have Georgios Dedas at the helm: he will become the 23rd Greek coach in the competition and will go head-to-head with Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos, who has already coached Peristeri in the league (2019-20 & 2020-21).
Pierre-Antoine Gillet (Oostende) needs only two more three-pointers to reach the 150 successful shots made from behind the arc in the competition, a feat that only seven players have previously achieved; he has made multiple three-pointers in 12 of his last 14 games in the BCL.
Damien Jefferson, now with Karditsa, could face his former team of Oostende; he averaged 17.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game when playing at the COREtec Dôme in the BCL 2023-24.
Are you looking for a strong candidate for Best Young Player of the Season? Well, Noam Yaacov had 33 points and 4 assists in Oostende's latest 100-90 win over LWD Basket in the BNXT League; El Ellis and Brandon Jefferson both scored 21 points to lead Karditsa to the 91-77 victory over Aris.