Zenit stopped UNICS offense on the road and defeated the Kazan team for the first time in the season — 80:69 (20:13, 22:17, 26:17, 12:22).
Game progress
UNICS was the favorite of the game. The Kazan team played at home and beat CSKA and before the All-Star break. But Zenit was not so stable – Xavi Pascual team lost to Nizhny Novgorod. In addition, it is bcame known that Thomas Heurtel will miss some time due to injury and will definitely not play against UNICS.
However, the first half was suprisingly bad for the hosts. Zenit started with a 9-2 run and had one of their best defensive quarters this season. In the first quarter, the Kazan team managed to score only 13 points. Zenit started the second quarter with Trey Tompkins three-pointer, this shot made the guests lead double-digit.
UNICS tried to score threes, but today everyone had a bad day – Louis Labeyrie, Jalen Reynolds, and Daryl Macon missed most of their shots. But for their opponents, Dmitriy Kulagin had a bright segment with scoring and assisting. By the halftime, UNICS trailed 42:30, and Vitaliy Fridzon closed each quarter with three-pointers.
Key moment
The third quarter only worsened the hosts situation – by the end Zenit had already a 20-point lead. However, UNICS still battled: the final quarter began with an 11:3 run by the Kazan team. However, Zenit lead was too great. UNICS again desperately tried to catch up with the guests with threes, but missed all of them. Sergey Karasev three-pointer and Artem Klimenko dunk summed up the game. Zenit beat UNICS for the first time this season, taking revenge for 2 losses at the first stage of the regular season.
Key factor
Zenit defense worked like clockwork: for the first time in the season, the St. Petersburg team let the Kazan team socre less than 70 points. Xavi Pascual team lost both previous games in the current regular season letting opponents score 82 and 95 points.
Fact
UNICS and Zenit game became Kulagin brothers duel, and this time Dmitriy clearly outplayed Mikhail: although the Kazan team guard managed to score 6 points in just 11 minutes, his older brother became the key Zenit bench player. In general, Kulagin and Trent Frazier, who started the game from the very first minutes for the first time, did everything to compensate Thomas Heurtel absence- they made 16 assists combined. This is more than the entire UNICS.
Leaders
UNICS: Nenad Dmitrijevic(13), Daryl Macon (12 + 3 steals), Louis Labeyrie (12 + 9 rebounds), Jalen Reynolds (10 + 7 rebounds)
Zenit: Caleb Homesley (16 + 6 rebounds), Trent Frazier (12 + 9 assists), Dmitriy Kulagin (9 + 7 assists)
Next games
UNICS: road game versus CSKA on March 2
Zenit: home game against Pari Nizhny Novgorod on March 2
