UNICS defeated MBA-MAI in Moscow – 94:66 (22:15, 23:19, 27:12, 22:20).
Game progress
The guests controlled the start of the game. UNICS made less turnovers, gained confidence in rebounding and was able to take the lead. After an 8-point run, the Kazan team had a double-digit lead for the first time in the game – 15:4.
Vasily Karasev emotional timeout helped shake up his team. MBA-MAI energized and began to gradually catch up. After Evgeny Voronov layup midway through the second quarter, the Moscow team lead was reduced to a shot – 26:28.
After that the game was more productive. But the guests had the last word in the first half. Mikhail Belenitskii and Marcos Knight allowed UNICS to get a comfortable lead by halftime – 45:34.
Key moment
The Kazan team came to the second half with fighting attitude. The guests turned on defense to the max, forced the opponent to make a lot of mistakes and began to rapidly increase the lead with quick transition from defense to offense and the individual skill of their international players. After DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell three-pointer, UNICS’ lead reached 20 points – 57:37, and the teams were already 26 points differencial by the end of the quarter – 72:46. The home team couldn’t regain the lead.
X-factor
Aggressive defense was the key to UNICS win in this game. The guests forced the opponent to make 23 turnovers (MBA-MAI season-worst), while making 14 steals. Most of them turned into easy points for the Kazan team on fast breaks. At the same time, UNICS players got 22 extra possessions due to less turnovers (10 vs 23) and better offensive rebounding (15 vs 6).
Facts
MBA-MAI has never defeated UNICS. In 9 games between the teams, the Kazan team has been winning every time.
UNICS has already won 12 consecutive games. The Kazan team repeated its longest winning streak of the season. Earlier, Zenit had 12 win in a row.
Evgeny Minchenko scored 1,000th point in the VTB League. The center has 1,005 points after today’s game.
Leaders
MBA-MAI: Daniil Kasatkin (14 + 5 assists), Ivan Belousov (12).
UNICS: Jalen Reynolds (19 + 5 rebounds), Marcos Knight (17), DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (15 + 5 rebounds + 5 steals), Ismael Bako (12 + 8 rebounds), Andrey Lopatin (12 + 8 rebounds).
What’s next
MBA-MAI: January 28 on the road versus Zenit
UNICS: January 28 at home against Enisey.
