UNICS defeated Samara on the road, 117–62 (25–15, 25–14, 34–21, 33–12).
Main Story
The visitors took the lead right from the start. It took them just over four minutes to build a double-digit lead—12–2. To Samara’s credit, they managed to even out the game for a while. But as the second quarter progressed, UNICS regained the upper hand. An excellent three-point shooting percentage (57.1%—8 of 14) allowed the Kazan team to head into halftime with a comfortable lead—50–29.
In the second half, the game never became close again. Another string of accurate three-pointers further solidified the visitors’ lead. Kazan continued to extend their lead and ultimately secured a convincing victory.
X-Factor
Three-point shooting proved to be the key factor in this game. The visitors set a new season record for three-pointers made—21 of 36 (58.3%).
Interesting Facts
UNICS secured its third consecutive victory. This is the longest winning streak in the current championship.
The Kazan team reaffirmed its status as the League’s highest-scoring team. So far this season, they have yet to score fewer than 88 points in a single game. UNICS’s average scoring output stands at 104.3 points.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes became the first player this season to score more than 30 points in a single game—34 points.
In this game, UNICS tied its own season-high in scoring (117 points) and set new records for this season in made three-pointers (21) and defensive rebounds (36).
Press Conference
Miloš Pavičević, Head Coach of Samara:
– UNICS certainly played well today. We tried changing our defensive schemes, but it was hard to stop them. The Kazan team played very well. But what upsets me more is that we didn’t show our true potential on offense: we had a lot of misses—the most frustrating kind—and didn’t make enough free throws. Against such a strong opponent, our shooting percentage needs to be much higher to stay in the game. 62 points is very few. If you score 62 points, you don’t stand a chance against UNICS.
UNICS Head Coach Milan Karakas:
– It was very important for us to take Samara seriously, with all due respect, given how we played against this team in the preseason. It was crucial to give 100 percent for all forty minutes. We approached this game with the respect it deserved.
Top Performers
Samara: Andrei Savrasov (14), Evgeny Minchenko (10 + 10 rebounds), Dmitry Cheburkin (10)
UNICS: Xavier Rathan-Mayes (34), Brendan Adams (17), Denis Zakharov (15), Jalen Reynolds (14), David McCormack (11 + 10 rebounds), Makar Konovalov (11 + 7 assists)
Up next
Samara: October 14, away against Enisey
UNICS: October 14, at home against Uralmash.
Condensed Game:
Highlights:
