MIES (Switzerland) - Elan Chalon and Unicaja to continue their winning streak in Group B and Group G, VEF Riga to bounce back in Group F, Mersin Sports Club against Karditsa Iaponiki in the battle for Play-Ins.
This is what the menu looks like for Wednesday's action this week in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL. Enjoy the 24 must-know stats, facts, and things to look out for these four clashes.
NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz vs. VEF Riga - Group F, 18:00 CET
NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz won 84-54 their first home game in the BCL this season, against Patrioti Levice, their biggest win in the competition; however, they are yet to win consecutive home games in the BCL.
Riga have only won two of their 26 road games in the BCL and have lost each of the most recent 17, the longest losing streak for a team away from home in the competition's history. They have conceded 75+ points in nine of their last 10 road games.
Riga have the lowest field goal percentage among all teams in the BCL this season (35.2%), after making 47 percent of their attempts in the competition last season; on the other side, only ALBA BERLIN (60%) have a lower accuracy from the free-throw line this season than Olajbanyasz (61.9%).
Olajbanyasz’s Brady Skeens has grabbed 30 rebounds in his first two games in the BCL; if he is able to grab 8+ rebounds in this game against Riga, he will have the most rebounds of any player after his first three games in the competition (currently, James McAdoo and Josh Carlton, both 37).
Arnaldo Toro (VEF) has grabbed 8+ rebounds in each of his seven BCL games; his average of 11.4 rebounds per game in the competition is the best among all players with 5+ games played. He scored 11 points in his last BCL appearance, but he is yet to score over 10 points in back-to-back league fixtures.
Olajbanyasz extended their winning streak in Hungary to five consecutive games following the 85-68 win over Budapest Honved; Riga were also successful during the weekend by beating Viimsi 83-60 in the Latvian-Estonian League.
Mersin Sports Club vs. Karditsa Iaponiki - Group G, 18:00 CET
Mersin will play their first home game in the BCL – 10 of the previous 13 Turkish sides that took part in the BCL won their first home game; the last one to lose it was Bursaspor in October 2023.
Karditsa have won one of their two BCL games, but it was the one played away from home, 95-93 after overtime against Filou Oostende on Gameday 1; Greek teams have lost six of their last seven road games in Türkiye in the Regular Season.
Mersin had five players scoring 15+ points on Gameday 2 against Filou Oostende, a first time for a team in the BCL since SIG Strasbourg in January 2023 against Hapoel Holon.
Gabriel Olaseni (Mersin) has averaged 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in his six home games with 30+ minutes played in the BCL, with his teams winning five of those six games.
Brandon Jefferson has scored more than 10 points in 12 of his last 14 BCL games, including in his two with Karditsa; he has already missed four free throws in his two appearances with the Greek side (6-of-10 – 60%), after missing only three FTs in his previous 17 games in the competition (45-of-48 – 93.8%).
Different results from the weekend for the two teams against former BCL participants: Mersin lost 90-86 on the road against Aliaga Petkimspor despite Anthony Cowan and Justin Cobbs combining for 37 points, while Karditsa prevailed 75-73 over Kolossos.
Elan Chalon vs. Sabah BC - Group B, 20:00 CET
Chalon have won their last two BCL games and will attempt to win three in a row for the first time; they won their first two games this season despite trailing at halftime by at least six points each time.
Sabah BC have lost their first two games in the BCL and have won only one of the eight quarters they played in those games.
Sabah have conceded on average 47.0 points per game in the paint in the BCL this season, more than any other team, while Chalon are one of the seven teams to have scored 40+ points in the paint on average per game (40.0).
Lionel Gaudoux (Chalon) has grabbed 10+ rebounds in each of his first two games in the BCL and will try to become only the third player in league history to have had 10 or more rebounds in each of his first three appearances, after Matt Costello and James McAdoo.
Justin Tillman (Sabah) has averaged 16.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in his eight Regular Season games with 25+ minutes played in the BCL, scoring at least 12 points in each of those games. However, he missed all the nine three-pointers he attempted in the process.
Chalon will need to bounce back after a 40-point home loss (107-67) against Paris Basketball in the LNB; in Azerbaijan, Hassani Gravett was three rebounds shy of a triple-double (28 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds) in Sabah's 87-68 victory against Ganja.
Unicaja vs. Filou Oostende - Group G, 20:30 CET
Unicaja have won their last 15 home games in the BCL, by an average margin of 20.3 points. They have scored 90+ points in each of their last seven home games, but no team has ever managed to do that in eight games in a row.
Oostende have lost their last four games in the BCL but have never suffered more defeats in a row in the competition. They have lost their seven trips to Spain in the BCL, including the last three by margins of 15+ points.
Oostende are scoring on average 1.6 points following an offensive rebound in the BCL this season, more than any other team, while only Bnei Herzliya (1.56) have conceded more points per opposition’s offensive rebound than Unicaja (1.5).
Tyler Kalinoski is the only Unicaja player to have scored 10+ points in each of the first two gamedays of this BCL season. He has scored 10+ points in each of his last three BCL appearances, his best such run since joining Unicaja in 2022-23.
Oostende’s Noam Yaacov has already made 21 free throws in the BCL this season, the most for any player coming off the bench; he is making 55.6 percent of his attempted threes (5-of-9) and 87.5 percent of his attempted free throws (21-of-24).
Tyson Perez's double-double (11 points and 12 rebounds) and Olek Balcerowski's 18 points weren't enough for Unicaja in the 95-79 road defeat to La Laguna Tenerife; Aaron Estrada (17 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds) propelled Oostende to the 96-81 win on the road against Brussels.