MIES (Switzerland) - As per usual, we start our weekly action in Season X of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL. On Tuesday, we have three clashes: don't make other appointments.
We will start the day with the reverse fixture between Hapoel Netanel Holon and Cholet Basket, before focusing on two important encounters in Group E. In the meantime, take a look at our 18 must-know facts of the day.
Hapoel Netanel Holon vs. Cholet Basket - Group C, 18:00 CET
Holon have won eight of their 11 BCL games in Hungary as the home team, but have lost their most recent game there (65-81 vs. Joventut Badalona) - however, they have never lost consecutive fixtures when playing their BCL home games in Hungary.
Cholet have lost their three BCL matchups with Holon - their most defeats against a single opponent in the competition; the French side has won just one of their last five games in the BCL, but that sole victory happened in their most recent road fixture (84-72 at Bursaspor Basketbol in GD2).
Holon have the best accuracy from behind the arc in the BCL this season (44.2%) and only two teams are averaging more three-pointers made per game than them (11.3); on the other side, only Mersin Sports Club (13.0) allow more three-pointers per game than Cholet (11.7).
Xavier Munford has scored in double-figures in each of his three BCL games, including a 17-point performance against Cholet in the reverse fixture: he is making 54.3 percent of his FG (19-of-35), 63.2 percent of his attempted threes (12-of-19), and 100 percent of his shots from the foul line (3-of-3) with Holon.
At the age of 24 years and 59 days old, Gerald Ayayi had eight assists and no turnovers against Holon in the reverse fixture, the first player aged under 25 years old to have had that many assists without a turnover in a BCL game since November 2020 (Yigit Arslan, 8 assists & 0 turnovers for Galatasaray vs. Tenerife).
Hassan Martin flirted with a double-double at 18 points and 9 assists to push Holon to the 82-70 win over Ness Ziona; Cholet couldn't come home successfully from their road game in Le Mans, losing 84-80.
Fitness First Würzburg Baskets vs. Galatasaray MCT Technic - Group E, 18:30 CET
Fitness First Würzburg Baskets have won their two BCL home games this season but are yet to win three on the bounce when playing on their home court in the competition - they have allowed fewer than 70 points in each of their two home games this season, after never allowing that few in the six before.
Galatasaray MCT Technic have won just one of their five BCL trips to Germany, but it was in their most recent game there (74-64 at RASTA Vechta in December 2024); Gala will try to win their first two road games in a BCL season for the first time in their six league campaigns.
Only Rytas Vilnius (23.7) are making more free throws per game than Galatasaray in the BCL this season (20.7); they made 36 free throws in the reverse fixture against Würzburg, the most for a team in a game this season, and the second-most in the BCL history (Promitheas, 40 also against Würzburg in March 2025).
Würzburg's Marcus Carr has scored 12 or more points in each of his three games in the BCL, despite coming from the bench in all of them; the Canadian has made at least a three-pointer in each of his appearances in the competition, and he’s also averaging 4.7 assists per game.
James Palmer Jr. (Galatasaray) has scored in double-figures in each of his last six BCL games, but only once has he had a longer such run, doing it in each of his first eight appearances; Palmer Jr. has tallied 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists in each of his last two games, but has yet to do it in more consecutive fixtures.
Würzburg enjoyed their Halloween night with the 97-92 win over Jena as Marcus Carr erupted for 37 points over 16-of-17 at the line; Galatasaray, on the other side, lost 83-81 to Turk Telekom in Ankara despite James Palmer Jr.'s losing effort of 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Pallacanestro Trieste vs. Igokea m:tel - Group E, 20:30 CET
Pallacanestro Trieste are still winless in the BCL (L3), but their defeat at home ended with a single-point differential (90-91 v Galatasaray); Fortitudo Bologna and Capo d’Orlando are the only two Italian teams to have lost their first four games in the BCL.
Igokea m:tel won their last game in the BCL (91-76 vs. Trieste) and will try to win back-to-back BCL games for the first time since 2022; they have played multiple times against 18 teams in the BCL, but only against four of them have they won multiple games.
Trieste are averaging only 4.0 steals per game in the BCL this season, fewer than any other team, and thus, they are one of the only two teams, alongside Legia Warszawa (9.3), to average fewer than 10 points from turnovers per game this season (9.7).
Mady Sissoko has grabbed more than five offensive rebounds in each of his last two BCL games with Trieste, but no player has ever done it in three consecutive appearances; he has also had 17+ points in each of those last two fixtures.
Breein Tyree (Igokea) has scored in double-figures in his last 14 games played in the BCL, including two 20- point games with Igokea; Tyree has also made a three-pointer in each of his last 26 league fixtures and if he scores one from behind the arc in this game he will join Brandon Brown with the second longest run (27 games; Dusan Sakota is the all-time leader with 35).
After winning the Derby of Friuli Venezia-Giulia against Udine, Trieste had another successful weekend in the LBA, beating Treviso 107-100 on the road, also thanks to Jahmi'us Ramsey's 34-point effort; Igokea suffered the 106-84 road defeat in Romania to former BCL participant U-BT Cluj-Napoca despite Breein Tyree's 25 points.