UNICS beat Avtodor in Kazan – 84:54 (29:9, 19:10, 21:21, 15:14).

Game progress
UNICS is one of Avtodor most uncomfortable opponents: in 10 years of playing in the VTB League, the Saratov team has never won in Kazan. From the very first minutes, the hosts showed the intention to continue that streak. A 7:0 run by UNICS forced the guests to take a timeout, but that didn’t change the situation: Mikhail Belenitskii and Marcos Knight Mae 2 long-range shots to make it a double-digit difference. By the end of the opening quarter, the Kazan team had already made a strong bid for a win with a 20-point lead.

Avtodor failed to take the initiative. The Kazan team confidently dealt with the guests defense, weakened by the absence of Artem Klimenko and Dusan Beslac, time after time scoring points or making offensive rebounds. Midway through the third quarter, DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell set a 40-point lead. Only in the final quarter, UNICS slow down a bit, but it couldn’t affect the result. The Kazan team caught up with Pari Nizhny Novgorod and secured the place in the Top 5.

X-factor
Although the Kazan team shooter were frankly not playing well (only 5 three-point shots made out of 22), UNICS was focused to win with two-point shooting (67.5%), and drives into the paint led to a high number of free throws (15 of 18 made).

Facts
UNICS got the 21st win in 23 head-to-head games with Avtodor. The Saratov team once again failed to get first win in Kazan.

Marcos Knight surpassed 400 rebounds in the VTB League. He became only the 5th foreign guard to reach that mark (after Nando De Colo, Jeremy Chappelle, Anthony Hilliard and Jaylen Barford).

Leaders
UNICS: Marcos Knight (19 + 4 steals), DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (13 + 5 rebounds), Ismael Bako (11 + 7 rebounds + 3 blocks), Tony Taylor (11 + 5 rebounds).
Avtodor: Jamal Jones (19 +7 rebounds + 5 assists), Bryant Crawford (12), Dmitry Khaldeev (10 + 6 rebounds).

What’s next
UNICS: October 15 at home against Astana
Avtodor: October 15 at home versus MBA-MAI.