MIES (Switzerland) - Four-game schedule on Tuesday, four-game schedule on Wednesday: weekly business as usual in Season 11 of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL.
Our attention will be set on two Group H matchups, on AEK BC's home appointment to start the night, and on another clash on Italian soil. Four games, six must-know facts for each of them. Stay with us to find out more.
AEK BC vs. Windrose Giants Antwerp - Group C, 18:00 CET
This will be only the second time in 11 BCL seasons that AEK will play their first two games at home (also 2020-21); the Greeks have won three of their four BCL games against Windrose Giants Antwerp, including the two at home in February 2019 (77-76) and October 2019 (62-51).
Antwerp won their opening game (99-93 vs. Falco Vulcano Szombathely) but are yet to win their first two games in a BCL season; they lost all their seven road games in 2019-20, their last season in the competition.
Antwerp have allowed their opponents to make 12+ steals in only five of their 35 BCL games, but three of those happened against AEK.
Frank Bartley has recorded 341 points in his 18 games in the BCL and needs nine more to reach 350 points in the competition; only two players have reached that mark in fewer games than him, and both also did it while playing for AEK: Kevin Punter and Keith Langford, both in 18 games.
Enoch Cheeks (23 points) and Noel Coleman (21 points) both dropped 20+ points for Antwerp on their BCL debut; however, no player has had back-to-back 20-point games in both his first two BCL appearances for the Antwerp outfit.
AEK beat Mykonos 84-79 in the Greek league with six players ending in double digits and Thomas Heurtel sharing 11 assists; Antwerp were also successful in the BNXT League, winning 125-86 on the road against Heroes Den Bosch with seven players scoring 10+ points, including Enoch Cheeks (25 points).
Bnei Penlink Herzliya vs. FC Porto - Group H, 18:30 CET
This will be the second time for Bnei Penlink Herzliya playing a BCL game in Bulgaria, after losing against Tofas Bursa in October last year (90-86); their four BCL fixtures played on neutral venues have ended with an average differential of 4.0 points.
After losing in their BCL debut (78-74 at Telekom Baskets Bonn), FC Porto will play on the road again; they scored 26 points in the last quarter of their opening game, their highest-scoring period against Telekom Baskets Bonn, but were the only team that failed to lead on Gameday 1.
Bnei Herzliya have made fewer than 55 percent of their free throws in each of their last two BCL games, after having a free-throw percentage of at least 64 percent in each of their first 11 games.
D.J. Brewton III had 20 points in his BCL debut against Asisa Joventut, and he will attempt to become the second player to score 20+ points in consecutive games with Bnei Herzliya, after Maurice Kemp, who did it twice, including in his first two appearances in the competition.
James Woodard (Porto) scored 13 points against Bonn on Gameday 1 after never reaching double digits in scoring in any of his first seven Regular Season games in the BCL; he is yet to score 12+ points in back-to-back fixtures in the competition.
Bnei Herzliya had the 103-96 win in double overtime over Ness Ziona as both D.J. Brewton III (21 points and 12 rebounds) and Nathan Knight (12+12) contributed with double-doubles, while Zach Bryant led with a team-high 23 points; Corey Allen-Williams had 22 points in Porto's 95-91 road victory against Esguiera Basket.
Pallacanestro Reggiana vs. BC Juventus Utena - Group E, 20:00 CET
Pallacanestro Reggiana will try to win their first two games of a BCL Season for the first time in their three league campaigns, this after beating BK KVIS Pardubice on GD1 (82-65); four of Reggiana’s last five games at home have ended with margins of 10 or more points.
BC Juventus Utena have only won one of their last 12 road games in the BCL, but it was the most recent one, 70-56 at UCAM Murcia in February 2018. They lost their previous two trips to Italy, both by margins of at least 10 points.
Reggiana made 14 steals on GD1 (vs. Pardubice) after never reaching 10 steals in any of their first 22 BCL games; Juventus made only seven turnovers on Gameday 1, their joint-low in their 31 games in the competition.
Jaylen Barford (Reggiana) had 23 points on Gameday 1 against Pardubice, his second game with 20+ points in his 17 BCL appearances; he has averaged 16.2 points per game in his last five home games in the competition.
Sarunas Beniusis had 14 points and 6 rebounds against Unicaja on GD1, but only two players previously had 10+ points and 5+ rebounds in each of their first two BCL games while playing with Juventus: Maksym Korniienko and Vaidas Cepukaitis.
Opposite results for Juventus (100-90 home victory against Gargzdai) and Reggiana (94-81 road defeat in Verona) in their domestic league duties, in Lithuania and Italy respectively.
Asisa Joventut vs. Telekom Baskets Bonn - Group H, 20:00 CET
Joventut have won each of their first eight home BCL games; only AS Monaco (17) and Umana Reyer Venezia (11) started their time in the competition with longer unbeaten home runs; Joventut have scored more than 85 points in seven of their eight home games in the BCL.
Bonn beat Porto on GD1 (78-74) and will try to win their first two games to start a BCL season for the first time in their seven league campaigns.
Joventut have outrebounded their opponents in 12 of their last 15 BCL games but lost the three games in that span where they grabbed fewer rebounds than the other team; Bonn have outrebounded their opponents in seven of their last nine BCL games.
Emir Sulejmanovic (Joventut) has scored 15+ points in two of his last three BCL games, including a personal best of 20 points in Gameday 1 against Bnei Herzliya, as often as in his first 64 appearances in the competition.
Michael Kessens (Bonn) had 10 points on GD1 against Porto, but he has never reached double digits in scoring in consecutive games during his 26 BCL appearances. He averaged 7.5 rebounds per game in his last two road games with 20+ minutes played in the competition.
Joventut had another fantastic night at home in the Catalan derby, winning 113-89 against Barcelona with Nicolas Laprovittola (17 points on 5-of-7 from three and 8 assists), Ricky Rubio (19 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals), and Eli John Ndiaye (17 points on 100% from the field) dominating the scene; Bonn beat Oldenburg 75-61 on the road in the BBL Pokal, led by Marcus Foster's 16 points.