2020-21SemifinalsGame 3
Virtus Segafredo Bologna 100
UNICS Kazan 107
April 14, 2021 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 VIRTUS SEGAFREDO ARENA

UNICS returns to the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals!

In one of the best, most intense games in competition history, UNICS advanced to the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals by downing Virtus Segafredo Bologna 100-107 on the road in the do-or-die Game 3 of their semifinals series on Wednesday. UNICS will face AS Monaco in the finals, a best-of-three series that starts at Basket Hall Kazan on Tuesday, April 27. Jamar Smith and Okaro White led the winners with 22 points apiece. John Brown added 20 points and 8 rebounds, Nate Wolters scored 17 points and John Holland had 14 for UNICS. Milos Teodosic paced Virtus with 25 points, Marco Belinelli scored 24, Vince Hunter 13 and Josh Adams 10. UNICS's victory came with an added bonus as it gained eligibility to compete in the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Belinelli and Teodosic helped Virtus to a 48-46 lead at halftime. Brown and Holland stepped up for UNICS and Smith boosted his team's lead to 67-73 at the end of the third quarter. Virtus managed to get within 77-79 but Smith, Wolters and White all stepped up in crunch time to help UNICS record one of its biggest victories ever.


Isaiah Canaan and White each hit a triple to get UNICS going, but Teodosic struck twice from downtown and Giampaolo Ricci joined the three-point shootout to give Virtus a 9-6 lead. Kyle Weems followed a tip-in with an alley-oop layup. Holland sank a three-pointer to keep UNICS within 13-9. Ricci scored down low and got help from Vince Hunter and Amar Alibegovic to boost the hosts' lead to 19-15. Wolters downed a couple of triples and Brown helped UNICS tie the game at 21-21 after 10 minutes. Alibegovic dunked early in the second quarter, but Smith followed a jumper with a bomb from beyond the arc for a 25-28 UNICS lead. Belinelli stepped up with 7 quick points, but Smith and Canaan each struck from downtown to make it 32-35. Teodosic buried his third triple and Belinelli added a jumper in a 7-0 run that prompted UNICS to stop the game at 39-35. Brown took over with a layup-plus-foul that Stefan Markovic matched with a deep three-pointer. White and Brown kept pushing UNICS, but Vince Hunter kept the hosts in charge. Free throws by Holland and Belinelli fixed the halftime score at 48-46.

Brown swished a jumper after the break and Holland struck from beyond the arc for a 49-51 UNICS edge. Teodosic answered from downtown and added a layup but Wolters and Smith kept the visitors in charge, 54-56. White banked in a mid-range shot and Holland scored in penetration, prompting Virtus to call timeout at 54-60. Weems and Brown traded baskets and Smith sank a jumper for a 56-64 UNICS lead. Hunter erased Brown's jumper with a slam and Teodosic gave Virtus plenty of hope at 63-68. Holland and Smith each hit a jumper to restore a 67-73 UNICS lead after 30 minutes. Adams and Belinelli each buried a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter but Wolters and Brown gave UNICS fresh air at 73-77. White hit free throws and then Okaro White and Smith struck from downtown for a 78-85 lead with less than 6 minutes left. Weems stepped up with a put-back basket and Belinelli added a layup, but White scored twice in the paint and Wolters's jumper made it 82-91. Wolters and Smith each hit a three-pointer, but Belinelli and Teodosic kept Virtus alive at 92-96 with 1:17 left. Canaan sank an 11-meter triple that sealed the outcome and sent UNICS to the 2021 EuroCup Finals.

Pivotal performer

Okaro White stepped up big, especially after Jordan Morgan went down with an injury midway through the second quarter. He finished the game with 22 points on 5-of-7 two-point shooting, 2-of-3 on three-pointers and 6-of-6 on free throws. He added 4 rebounds and 5 fouls drawn for a PIR of 22.

Game-changing moment

Virtus got within 77-79 with 6 minutes left, but Okaro White and Jamar Smith each hit a three-pointer to give UNICS fresh air in a critical moment. White punished his former team with a couple of close-range baskets and then Nate Wolters joined the three-point shootout to give UNICS a double-digit lead, 84-94, that Virtus did not overcome.

Stellar stat

UNICS had a much better three-point shooting percentage, making 14 of 29 shots from downtown (48.3%). Virtus only buried 12 of 31 (38.7%), while committing 14 turnovers. UNICS only turned the ball over 9 times in the game.

Did you know?

UNICS is set to play the EuroCup Finals for the third time in club history. It lifted the trophy in 2011 after beating Cajasol Sevilla and lost against Valencia in the 2014 Finals. UNICS also earned the right to play the EuroLeague for the fourth time, after previous experiences in the 2011-12, 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons.

Next game

UNICS hosts Game 1 of the EuroCup Finals against Monaco on Tuesday, April 27. In their only previous matchups, Monaco defeated UNICS twice in the 2019-20 season. Virtus finished its 2020-21 EuroCup campaign with a 19-2 record.

Jamar Smith - UNICS Kazan (photo Giulia Pesino - Virtus) - EC20
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: RADOVIC, SRETEN; VILIUS, GYTIS; RACYS, SAULIUS
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Virtus Segafredo Bologna21271933
UNICS Kazan21252734
End of Quarter1234
Virtus Segafredo Bologna214867100
UNICS Kazan214673107
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 ABASS, AWUDU 5:17 2   0/1 2/2   1 1             1 3
6 PAJOLA, ALESSANDRO 7:43                   1     1 1 -1
7 ALIBEGOVIC, AMAR 9:30 6 2/2 0/1 2/2   2 2 1         2 1 7
9 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 20:02 3 0/2 1/3     2 2 2   2 1 1 4 1 -2
11 RICCI, GIAMPAOLO 24:10 8 2/2 1/3 1/2 1 3 4 1   1 1   4 1 7
14 ADAMS, JOSH 12:19 10 1/1 2/4 2/4 1 1 2     1     1 4 10
18 BELINELLI, MARCO 28:09 24 4/4 3/7 7/9 2 1 3 1   3     5 4 18
32 HUNTER, VINCE 23:29 13 1/3 1/1 8/10 1 2 3 2 2   1   3 6 20
34 WEEMS, KYLE 16:41 8 4/6 0/1   4   4 1 1 1     1   9
35 NIKOLIC, STEFAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
44 TEODOSIC, MILOS 33:33 25 2/4 4/10 9/10   3 3 9   4   1 4 10 29
45 GAMBLE, JULIAN 19:07 1 0/2   1/2 1   1 1 1 1     2 1 -1
Team           3 3 6               6
Totals 200:00 100 16/26 12/31 32/41 13 18 31 18 4 14 3 2 27 30 105
        61.5% 38.7% 78%
Head coach: DJORDJEVIC, SASA
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
UNICS Kazan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 BROWN, JOHN 33:32 20 7/10   6/7 4 4 8 1 2 1     3 8 31
2 ANTIPOV, PAVEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 CANAAN, ISAIAH 20:34 9 0/3 3/4     3 3 3 2 3   2 5 2 5
6 ZHBANOV, GEORGY 0:24                              
7 WOLTERS, NATE 24:10 17 3/4 3/5 2/2 1 2 3 3   1     3 1 17
9 WHITE, OKARO 33:10 22 5/7 2/4 6/6 1 3 4     1     4 5 22
12 KLIMENKO, ARTEM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 UZINSKII, DMITRII 8:43   0/2                     4 1 -5
15 SMITH, JAMAR 28:22 24 4/6 4/10 4/4 1 1 2 5 1 1     3 3 23
19 MORGAN, JORDAN 8:03 1 0/1   1/2   1 1       1   1 1 1
23 HOLLAND, JOHN 26:47 14 2/3 2/5 4/4   1 1 2 2   1   4 4 16
25 THEODORE, JORDAN 16:15   0/1 0/1         7   2   1 3 2 1
Team           3 2 5               5
Totals 200:00 107 21/37 14/29 23/25 10 17 27 21 7 9 2 3 30 27 116
        56.8% 48.3% 92%
Head coach: PRIFTIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

DJORDJEVIC, SASA
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
"First of all, congratulations to the winning team. In my opinion, having not played their two last games in the VTB League gave them more energy for this one. Unfortunately, we had one player less - when Tessitori tested positive in COVID, it was something that we didn't expect. He could have given us a good hand against their bigs, because we had some problems under the basket that usually we don't have. Generally, they had four players that were in the game - Wolters, Holland, Smith and John Brown - and then Canaan hit a really lucky shot that could have been a great defense. In the last second, they came up with 7 points and that was the winning shot. But in the end, we had a fight and tried to do it. Obviously, defensively, we were not good tonight. They scored 107 points in a game like this, so we didn't do a good job defensively. Obviously, they have a lot of resources, a lot of great ballhandlers and they took advantage of it with very simple plays during the whole fourth period - with pick-and-rolls, they found different players and that was the key of the game. We have to be proud about how we did in this EuroCup competition but in the end, only two losses took us out of our goal, which was playing the finals and going to the EuroLeague."
PRIFTIS, DIMITRIS
UNICS Kazan
"It is a unique moment for us, for me personally, for the guys and for the club. We will participate next season with the top teams, in the EuroLeague. I am very thankful to my guys, to my players, to the staff, to the whole staff, to the people of my team. There was a very positive aura before we came here. To my president, who is an old guy and is every day on the court. He supports the team, is very close to us and tries to give us the best conditions to work. I am very glad that we gave him this pleasure. Of course, this is not obviously done; we have the finals in front of us, but this is a very important achievement. This was a final for both teams, so I am very thankful to all the staff and to my physio, because we had unbelievable injuries in the last two stages, with Loko and now with Virtus. Because of his contribution, he helped us amazingly. The fact that Wolters played today was a surprise, he shouldn't have played. So I am very thankful to all the people in my team and I am glad that we won. It is a unique moment and a good experience. You work for many years, we worked for months to live this kind of moment, so I am very glad for my guys."

Players

WHITE, OKARO
UNICS Kazan
"My feelings are mixed. Coming to play at the place I started my professional career was amazing, against a great team, but we came to play our heart out. We played our heart out and played with a great mentality. And we won the game! We came here thinking we were going to win the game. It was a great game and I am glad we got the victory."
BROWN, JOHN
UNICS Kazan
"We just stuck with our game plan and execute well down defensively. Of course, they got some calls but we stuck with it, didn't bicker with the referees like in the past and just held it together."