«+48» in the duel of champions!

Main team news

16.10.2023

Did you miss UNICS? The champions of Russia, after a two-week absence, brightly returned to the air of the VTB United League, having crushed the strongest club of Belarus Minsk with a difference of 48 points (97:49) and won the biggest victory of the season among all the teams of the tournament.

VTB United League. Regular season. 3rd round.
Minsk (Belarus) – UNICS (Kazan, Russia) – 49:97 (20:18, 9:33, 8:24, 12:22).
UNICS: Reynolds (19 + 7 rebounds + 3 assists), Knight (15 + 3 rebounds), Kulagin (14), Dimitrijevic (12 + 5 assists + 3 rebounds), Zaitcev (10 + 6 rebounds + 3 steals), Bako (10 + 6 rebounds), Odinokov (6 + 4 rebounds), Tikhonenko (6).
Minsk: Kosko (13 + 6 rebounds), Ogungbemi-Jackson (10 + 4 rebounds), Motovilov (9).

Half of our team's players – 6 out of 12 basketball players - submitted to double–digit numbers in the points scored column. UNICS dominated on the boards, winning 21 rebounds (49 to 28), and also made three times fewer losses (6 against 18 at Minsk).

The hosts managed to impose a fight on the current champions of the VTB United League only in the opening quarter. By the big break, the advantage of the white-greens was estimated at 22 points (51:29), and shortly before the end of the match reached the maximum «+50» after the hit of Odinokov. The buzzer recorded the largest away victory of UNICS in the history of the club – 97:49.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS:

Velimir PERASOVIC, BC UNICS head coach:

«I think we started slowly in the first 5 minutes, but then we took control of the game and dominated throughout the match. After a long period without basketball, we definitely needed this game to see where we are. The final difference in the score turned out to be very large. Today in the second half we added energy, rigidity, as a result of which the match was easy for us».

Vyacheslav ZAITCEV, BC UNICS guard:

«We were seriously preparing for the away match with Minsk, which was our first after a long 16-day break. In the opening minutes, the hosts played tight and trapped us on pick-and-rolls, due to which they came out ahead. But we reacted quickly, set up an attack and began to defend more aggressively, which allowed us to seize the initiative.

In the future, we only increased the advantage, which by the buzzer approached the 50-point mark. I think every player who came out on the court today made a significant contribution to the victory of the team».