2019-20Top 16Round 6
Joventut Badalona 101
Unicaja Malaga 86
March 04, 2020 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 PALAU OLIMPIC DE BADALONA

Joventut finishes season undefeated at home

Joventut Badalona finished its 2019-20 EuroCup season in style by topping Unicaja Malaga 101-86 at home on Wednesday. Joventut, which was eliminated earlier in the Top 16, finished third in Group G with a 3-3 record. Unicaja topped the group with a 4-2 record and will face Umana Reyer Venice in the best-of-three quarterfinals. Xabi Lopez-Arostegui led six Unicaja scorers in double figures with 20 points, Klemen Prepelic added 15, Nenad Dimitrijevic and Conor Morgan each scored 12 and Kerem Kanter 11 and Artirs Zagars 10 for Joventut. Dario Brizuela paced Unicaja with 23 points, Adam Waczynski and Melvin Ejim each scored 14 and Deon Thompson had 10. Unicaja led 67-70 through three quarters before Luke Harangody starred in a 12-0 run that gave Joventut the lead for good, 77-73. Prepelic and Joel Parra stepped up in crunch time to lead Joventut to its final EuroCup win of the season.

Thompson got Unicaja going with a couple of jumpers. Parra answered with a reverse layup, igniting a 6-0 run that Dimitrijevic capped with a driving basket that gave Joventut its first lead, 6-5. Volodymyur Gerun scored around the basket and Ejim added a stop-and-pop floater that saw Unicaja regain the lead, 7-9. Lopez-Arostegui scored off a steal, but Brizuela found his first points and fed Waczynski for a three-pointer in transition. Lopez-Arostegui and Albert Ventura each struck from downtown and Zagars added a driving layup for a 17-16 Joventut lead after 10 minutes. Lopez-Arostegui sank his second triple early in the second quarter. Brizuela downed a mid-range jumper and Waczynski added one from beyond the arc, but Kanter singlehandedly kept Joventut ahead, 26-21. Ejim rescued Unicaja with a driving layup and a three-pointer, keeping Unicaja close at 28-26. Frank Elegar matched a Prepelic layup with a big slam, but Zagars struck from downtown for a 33-28 Joventut lead. Unicaja found a go-to-guy in Brizuela, who had 4 points in a 0-7 that Pablo Sanchez capped with a triple for a 33-35 lead. Morgan dunked and Lopez-Arostegui scored off a steal, but Elegar and Brizuela kept Unicaja ahead, 37-39, at halftime.

Parra scored in transition soon after the break, but Waczynski hit a triple and Thompson added a jump hook for a 39-44 Unicaja lead. Prepelic sank his first three-pointer and got help from Morgan and an outstanding Kanter to bring Joventut a bit closer, 51-55. Gerun answered with a couple of close baskets and got help from Waczynski to keep Unicaja ahead, 56-62. Lopez-Arostegui hit back-to-back triples, but Sanchez answered from downtown after a timeout for a 62-65 lead. Zagars rescued the hosts, but Ejim kept Unicaja in charge, 67-70, after 30 minutes. Brizuela hit a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter. Luke Harangody answered from downtown, igniting a 12-0 run that he highlighted with a put-back basket to cause Unicaja to call timeout at 79-73. Brizuela rescued the visitors with a floater, but Dimitrijevic quickly restored an 81-75 lead. Prepelic stepped up with a driving basket, a steal and an assist to a Morgan three-pointer for an 87-79 lead with 3 minutes left. Josh Adams tried to change things with a layup-plus-foul, but Parra allowed Joventut to seal the outcome, 92-82, as Unicaja never recovered.

Pivotal performer

Xabi Lopez-Arostegui was unstoppable all game long, confirming he has a very promising future. He finished the game with a career-high 20 points on 4-of-6 two-point shooting and 4-of-7 three-pointers. Lopez-Arostegui added 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for a PIR of 20, also a personal best.

Game-changing moment

A three-pointer by Dario Brizuela gave Unicaja a 67-73 lead early in the fourth quarter. Luke Harangody answered from beyond the arc, Xabi Lopez-Arostegui and Oliver Stevic each scored around the basket and once again Harangody finished a hustle play with a put-back basket. Nenad Dimitrijevic capped a 12-0 run that allowed Joventut to take full control of the game for good.

Stellar stat

Joventut outrebounded Unicaja 36-27 with 13 offensive boards. It dished 21 assists - nine different players had at least one - and limited Unicaja to just 13. All that allowed Joventut to rank a team PIR of 111, its second-best mark this season; it amassed a team PIR of 113 in a home win against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in October.

Did you notice?

Unicaja will have the homecourt advantage in a playoff series for the first time. Unicaja won the 2016-17 EuroCup by winning three playoffs series - against FC Bayern Munich, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and Valencia Basket - without homecourt advantage. Last season, Unicaja fell 2-1 to ALBA in the quarterfinals, also without that advantage.

Next game

Joventut finished its EuroCup season with an 8-8 record. It was undefeated at home, 8-0, but not being able to get a road win the entire season, 0-8, prevented the team from getting past the Top 16. Unicaja marches on to the playoffs - Game 1 of its series against Reyer is scheduled for mid-March.

Klemen Prepelic - Joventut Badalona (photo David Grau - Joventut) - EC19
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; RADOJKOVIC, JOSIP ; VAN DEN BROECK, NICK
Attendance: 1653
By Quarter1234
Joventut Badalona17203034
Unicaja Malaga16233116
End of Quarter1234
Joventut Badalona173767101
Unicaja Malaga16397086
Joventut Badalona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DIMITRIJEVIC, NENAD 21:02 12 3/5 0/2 6/8   1 1 5   3   1 4 4 8
4 PARRA, JOEL 24:05 9 2/5 1/4 2/2 2 6 8 1   1     2 1 10
6 LOPEZ-AROSTEGUI, XABI 24:07 20 4/6 4/7     2 2 3 3 1     2   20
9 MORGAN, CONOR 20:01 12 3/3 2/3     1 1 1 1 1   1     12
10 PREPELIC, KLEMEN 17:58 15 2/4 2/4 5/8 1 2 3 5 2 1   1 2 7 21
11 KANTER, KEREM 17:55 11 4/5   3/4   2 2     3   1 4 7 10
14 VENTURA, ALBERT 13:59 3 0/1 1/1   1   1 1       1 3    
23 OMIC, ALEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
32 ZAGARS, ARTURS 18:49 10 1/2 2/3 2/2   2 2 3 1 1     2 2 13
41 STEVIC, OLIVER 22:05 2 1/3     3 4 7 1 1 2     3 3 7
81 HARANGODY, LUKE 19:59 7 2/4 1/3   2 2 4 1   3 1 1 1 1 5
Team           4 1 5               5
Totals 200:00 101 22/38 13/27 18/24 13 23 36 21 8 16 1 6 23 25 111
        57.9% 48.1% 75%
Head coach: DURAN, CARLES
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Unicaja Malaga
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 THOMPSON, DEON 30:03 10 3/5 1/2 1/2   5 5 3 1 3 3   2 2 15
8 BRIZUELA, DARIO 35:47 23 6/8 2/8 5/5   1 1 3 2 1   1 4 4 19
14 ADAMS, JOSH 17:46 6 2/6 0/2 2/3 1 1 2 1 2 4     4 4  
15 ELEGAR, FRANK 14:31 4 1/1   2/2   2 2   1       4 2 5
16 SANCHEZ, PABLO 15:34 7   2/2 1/2   1 1 1 1 3     1 1 6
21 WACZYNSKI, ADAM 34:17 14 0/2 4/10 2/2 1 1 2 1   2     4 5 8
22 EJIM, MELVIN 25:05 14 5/6 1/3 1/2 2 2 4 3 1 4     2 3 15
28 TAMBA, ISMAEL 0:48   0/1     1   1                
32 GUERRERO, RUBEN 6:38           2 2       1   1   2
52 GERUN, VOLODYMYR 19:31 8 3/5   2/3   2 2 1   1 2   3 2 8
Team           4 1 5               5
Totals 200:00 86 20/34 10/27 16/21 9 18 27 13 8 18 6 1 25 23 83
        58.8% 37% 76.2%
Head coach: CASIMIRO, LUIS

Head Coaches

DURAN, CARLES
Joventut Badalona
"The most important thing is that, after 10 years, Joventut played well in the EuroCup and made it to the Top 16 and I think we played very well in Badalona. We will try to improve on the road, but at home, we played very well. It is a great opportunity for Joel [Parra], Arturs [Zagars], for Neno [Dimitrijevic] and I think they played very well, not only today, but all season. It is difficult to evaluate the season, but I think we played with a very young team and played good basketball. We were sometimes worse on defense on the road, but I think Joventut played the best basketball possible in the EuroCup this season."
CASIMIRO, LUIS
Unicaja Malaga
"I believe that we controlled the game and its tempo during the opening three quarters, as long as we had strength and energy. After that moment, some important players had accumulated a lot of playing time, like Dario [Brizuela], Waczynski, Deon [Thompson], due to other players' absences. We lacked energy and truth to be told, we didn't control the rebounds in that moment and that was also a big problem. We didn't control the rebounds in the fourth quarter, giving Joventut second-chance options. That allowed them to rally and take the lead. When we found ourselves trailing in the game, it looks impossible for us now."

Players

LOPEZ-AROSTEGUI, XABI
Joventut Badalona
"I think that at home, during all the games, we played tough. Our home court was important in all games. We tried to advance to the playoffs, but there are very big teams playing [in the EuroCup]. I am happy that Joventut returned to Europe and we will try to come back again in the next years. I felt great today. I was confident with my shots and as always, I tried to play defense and help the team. Sometimes I feel better on offense, sometimes I do other things, but in the end, we scored 100 points, but we have to try to play better defense."
PREPELIC, KLEMEN
Joventut Badalona
"We played good. We had to keep them two quarters under 19 points and achieved that in the first and last quarters. I think we moved the ball pretty well, scored from outside, and then it was easier."