Unicaja Malaga vs. Mornar Bar - Game - Welcome to 7DAYS EuroCup

2020-21Regular SeasonRound 7

November 11, 2020 CET: 19:30

Local time: 19:30 MARTIN CARPENA

Unicaja hits 16 threes in home win

Unicaja Malaga took a decisive step towards the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 by downing Mornar Bar 98-72 at Martin Carpena on Wednesday. Unicaja improved to 5-2 in the standings while Mornar dropped to 3-4. Axel Bouteille and Dario Brizuela led the winners with 16 points apiece. Francis Alonso added 14 for Unicaja. Marko Jeremic led Mornar with 15 points, Nemanja Vranjes added 14 and Taylor Smith 10 for the guests. Mornar registered a 10-point win against Unicaja in Round 2, 90-80. That means that Unicaja would have the tie-break advantage if both teams have the same record at the end of the regular season.

.@unicajaCB, @yannick_nzosa stops Marko Jeremic with a high-flying BLOCK! #7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/74VNNtnJ6N
— 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) November 11, 2020

Alonso and Alberto Diaz each struck from downtown in an 8-1 opening run that Deon Thompson capped with a layup. Vranjes buried a three-pointer, but so did Bouteille, Alonso and Thompson to make it a double-digit lead, 17-6. Bouteille hit a jump hook and Volodymyr Gerun added a put-back layup that caused Mornar to call timeout at 21-6. Smith dunked twice, Vranjes sank his second triple and Jacob Pullen gave the guests hope at 25-16. A layup by Brizuela fixed the score at 27-16 after 10 minutes. Jeremic hit a three-pointer to bring Mornar within 28-20 early in the second quarter. Brizuela bettered Pullen's coast-to-coast layup with a three-point play. Alonso and Adam Waczynski each buried one from beyond the arc for a 38-25 Unicaja lead. Aleksandar Lazic hit a floater that a red-hot Alonso improved on with his fourth triple. Yannick Nzosa and Uros Lukovic exchanged layups and Vranjes brought Mornar closer, 44-32. Carlos Suarez buried a couple of three-pointers and got help from Bouteille and Alonso to boost Unicaja's lead to 54-34 at halftime.

Thompson and Bouteille each struck from downtown immediately after the break to increase the margin to 60-37. Smith hit a jump hook and Isaiah Whitehead scored twice in penetration, but Brizuela and a red-hot Bouteille answered. Diaz hit a close jumper, which Jeremic improved on with a three-pointer. Smith and Kenny Gabriel brought the visitors a bit closer, 75-52, after 30 minutes. Brizuela scored around the basket early in the fourth quarter and Tim Abromaitis added a triple that sealed the outcome, 80-54. Vranjes answered from downtown, but Unicaja didn't slow down as Waczynski and Brizuela restored a 90-64 lead. Little changed in the final 4 minutes as Unicaja coasted to victory.

FINAL. ¡VICTORIA! 98-72

J. 7 @EuroCup
@MornarBar

#UnicajaLive #RoadToGreatness pic.twitter.com/P5tbheiUFl
— UnicajaCB (@unicajaCB) November 11, 2020

Pivotal performer

Axel Bouteille was a strong choice for Unicaja throughout the game as he showcased his all-around scoring skills. He finished the game with 16 points on 5-of-8 two-point shooting and 2-of-3 on three-pointers plus 2 rebounds and 3 assists for a PIR of 17.

Game-changing moment

Unicaja opened the game with a rain of three-pointers. Francis Alonso buried 2, then Alberto Diaz, Axel Bouteille and Deon Thompson each hit one in a 21-6 run that Gerun capped with a put-back basket. That allowed Unicaja to get full control of the game and the hosts never looked back.

Stellar stat

Unicaja made the difference in a stellar first half in which the powerhouse buried 10 of 13 shots from downtown and outrebounded Mornar 18-3. It also got 14 assists, while limiting Mornar to 7. The PIR difference, 62-31, said it all.

Did you know?

Unicaja downed 16 of 25 three-point shots to set a club record for best shooting percentage from downtown (64%). Its previous record was 53.8% when it hit 15 of 28 threes in a home win against ALBA Berlin on February 1, 2017.

Next game

Both teams return to 7DAYS EuroCup action on Wednesday, October 18. Unicaja visits Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, while Mornar visits Germani Brescia.

Francis Alonso - Unicaja Malaga (photo Unicaja - Mariano Pozo) - EC20

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Eurocupbasketball.com

Referees: GKONTAS, SPIROS; VILIUS, GYTIS; HALLIKO, AARE

Attendance: 0

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
Unicaja Malaga	27	27	21	23
Mornar Bar	16	18	18	20

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
Unicaja Malaga	27	54	75	98
Mornar Bar	16	34	52	72

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	13:31	8	1/4	2/2		1	3	4	1		3			2		5
3	FERNANDEZ, JAIME	15:41	2	0/1	0/1	2/2				6	1	2			1	2	6
8	BRIZUELA, DARIO	22:15	16	6/6	1/2	1/1		5	5	6		2	1		2	2	25
9	DIAZ, ALBERTO	24:19	5	1/4	1/1		2	4	6	7	1			1	3	3	15
10	ALONSO, FRANCIS	20:28	14	1/1	4/6		1		1	1					2	1	13
21	WACZYNSKI, ADAM	15:29	9	0/2	3/5			2	2	2	2	1			2	2	10
23	ABROMAITIS, TIM	17:24	8	2/2	1/2	1/2		2	2			1				1	8
32	GUERRERO, RUBEN	13:03	2	1/3			1		1	1			1		2	1	2
33	NZOSA, YANNICK	10:22	4	2/2				1	1	2	1	1	1		2		6
43	SUAREZ, CARLOS	9:05	6		2/3			3	3		2	1			2		7
52	GERUN, VOLODYMYR	16:35	8	3/3		2/4	1	4	5			3			4	2	6
83	BOUTEILLE, AXEL	21:48	16	5/8	2/3		1	1	2	3		1				1	17
	Team						1		1								1
	Totals	200:00	98	22/36	16/25	6/9	8	25	33	29	7	15	3	1	22	15	121
				61.1%	64%	66.7%

Head coach: CASIMIRO, LUIS

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

Mornar Bar

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
0	PULLEN, JACOB	23:08	6	2/3	0/3	2/5		1	1	3	1	1		1	2	5	5
2	GABRIEL, KENNY	26:36	8	2/4	1/1	1/2		3	3			3	1		2	1	5
4	ZIVANOVIC, BALSA	0:48										1					-1
6	JEREMIC, MARKO	27:44	15	1/3	4/5	1/2				1	2	1		1	2	3	13
8	SEHOVIC, SEAD	16:38	4	0/1	0/1	4/5	1	1	2	4		2		1	2	2	4
9	SMITH, TAYLOR	24:46	10	4/6		2/4		4	4	2	1	1			1	4	15
10	MUGOSA, MARKO	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	WHITEHEAD, ISAIAH	24:27	8	4/5	0/3		1	3	4	3	1	3			3	1	7
13	LAZIC, ALEKSANDAR	13:24	2	1/2	0/2										1		-2
17	VUJOSEVIC, RADOJE	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
41	VRANJES, NEMANJA	27:15	14	1/1	3/7	3/4	1		1	4					2	3	15
55	LUKOVIC, UROS	15:14	5	2/3		1/2				1		1				3	6
	Team						1	2	3								3
	Totals	200:00	72	17/28	8/22	14/24	4	14	18	18	5	13	1	3	15	22	70
				60.7%	36.4%	58.3%

Head coach: PAVICEVIC, MIHAILO

Head Coaches

CASIMIRO, LUIS

Unicaja Malaga

"I think we played a very steady game, playing serious on defense, with a lot of discipline, controlling the boards well, and stopping their main players, who are very dangerous. I believe that the job we did was also steady on the offensive end, especially in the first half, hitting a lot of shots and making them. It was critical to get a big lead and keep the intensity throughout the 40 minutes of the game. We have been working on rebounds since the start of the season since we started practicing. A lot of times, rebounding is all about mentality. On offensive rebounds, you have to show up and go for it. On defensive rebounds, it is more about boxing out and having the desire to get it. The team is working on it. We know we have a lot of room for improvement in this aspect of the game, and we are working like we did since the start of the season, nothing special."

PAVICEVIC, MIHAILO

Mornar Bar

"First of all, congratulations to Unicaja for this win. From the first second, they came out very aggressive. We started very soft, especially on defense, and allowed them to score a lot from the beginning. And if you allow Unicaja to have the hot hand, the game is over, because if you let Unicaja players get hot at the beginning of the game, on their home court, you don't have many chances to come back to the game, and that is exactly what happened. Okay, we came here without two players from our starting lineup because of this COVID situation, without our starting point guard Derek Needham. Milko Bjelica stayed at home, and having two players out of our rotation was really hard for us to answer against Unicaja's very aggressive offense and defense. At The end of the day, when we came here, I said that to beat this type of team in its home court will be, for us, almost a miracle, but we must forget this game as quick as possible. We don't have time - we will play in the ABA League on Saturday and then turn to the next game against Brescia, an away game. We will try to win one or two games to maybe get the chance to go to the second round, but it will not be easy. I hope my players will soon be able to play and help us. And I wish all the best to Unicaja in the Spanish League and the EuroCup."

Players

FERNANDEZ, JAIME

Unicaja Malaga

"It was a very important win. We didn't expect to win by such a high margin because Mornar Bar is a good team, but we played a good game. Everything worked well for us and we are very happy with the victory. It is a little step closer to be in the Top 16, which is a very important goal for us. This game was critical to reach that goal, so we are happy."

BRIZUELA, DARIO

Unicaja Malaga

"I am really happy. We did a pretty good job, both on offense and defense. I am happy because everybody played well and now we have to keep focusing on the next games. We want to finish first [in the group] so the job is not finished."