2020-21Regular SeasonRound 8
FC Barcelona 97
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 55
November 12, 2020 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

Barcelona routs Fenerbahce at home

FC Barcelona grabbed its sixth consecutive victory by downing Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 97-55 at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday. Barcelona improved to 7-1 to remain atop the standings while Fenerbahce dropped to 4-4. Kyle Kuric shined for the winners with 25 points on 7-of-8 three-point shooting. Rolands Smits added 20, Nikola Mirotic had 16, Alex Abrines 12 and Cory Higgins 11. Lorenzo Brown paced Fenerbahce with 10 points. Barcelona led 28-17 after 10 minutes, extended its margin to 51-29 at halftime and then again to 67-33 late in the third quarter to seal the outcome long before the final buzzer.


Mirotic got Barcelona going with a three-pointer, but Jan Vesely and Ahmet Duverioglu each dunked for a 3-4 Fenerbahce lead. Abrines struck twice from downtown and Nick Calathes added a driving layup before Duverioglu and Leo Westermann brought the guests within 11-9. Mirotic insisted from beyond the arc and added a layup, which Higgins followed with an alley-oop to make it 18-11. Abrines downed his third triple and Mirotic followed a dunk with a tip-in to break the game open, 26-11. Ali Muhammed scored in penetration and got help from Brown and Vesely to bring Fenerbahce within 28-17 after 10 minutes. Smits buried a couple of three-pointers and added a layup to boost Barcelona's lead to 36-20. Brandon Davies dunked and Kuric sank a jumper that made it a 20-point game, 40-20. Mirotic capped an 11-0 run as Brown got the visitors a bit closer, 42-26. Davies, Calathes and Mirotic combined for all the points in a 7-0 run for a 49-26 Barcelona lead. A three-pointer by Melih Mahmutoglu and a buzzer-beating jumper by Smits fixed the halftime score at 51-29.

Abrines kept pushing Barcelona after the break, but Westermann and Brown brought Fenerbahce within 53-33. Higgins scored twice around the basket and added a triple in a 14-0 run which Kuric capped with a bomb from downtown. Tarik Biberovic and Danilo Barthel got Fenerbahce within 69-38 after 30 minutes. Barthel and Westermann tried to change things for Fenerbahce early in the fourth quarter, but Sergi Martinez and Kuric kept the hosts way ahead, 73-42. By the time Kuric buried back-to-back three-pointers, everything was said and done, as Barcelona had cruised to a well-deserved and convincing win.

Pivotal performer

Nikola Mirotic needed less than 19 minutes to confirm his superstar status. He finished the game with 15 points on 4-of-6 two-point shooting, 2-of-4 on three-pointers and 2-of-2 on free throws plus 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block for a PIR of 23.

Game-changing moment

A three-pointer by Leo Westermann gave Fenerbahce its last lead, 8-9. Nikola Mirotic and Alex Abrines combined for 14 points in an 18-2 run that gave Barcelona a 26-11 cushion late in the first quarter. The hosts never looked back after that, keeping a safe margin until the final buzzer.

Stellar stat

Fenerbahce committed 25 turnovers, its most in a EuroLeague game since the team merged with Ulker. Before that, Ulker had 26 turnovers against Zalgiris on December 20, 2001. Barcelona outrebounded Fenerbahce 34-24 and limited its opponents to just 4-of-18 three-point shooting (22.2%), while making 16 of 30 (53.3%).

Did you know?

It was Fenerbahce's second-biggest loss in terms of margin of defeat ever in the EuroLeague. Its biggest loss came against Montepaschi Siena on January 6, 2010. Montepaschi defeated Fenerbahce by 43 points (101-58) behind 20 points from Ksistof Lavrinovic.

Next game

Both teams returning to EuroLeague action early next week. Fenerbahce visits TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on Tuesday, November 17. Barcelona hosts Olympiacos Piraeus the following evening.

Kyle Kuric - FC Barcelona - EB20
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: LATISEVS, OLEGS; HORDOV, TOMISLAV ; TRAWICKI, TOMASZ
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona28231828
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul1712917
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona28516997
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul17293855
FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 17:35 4 1/4 0/1 2/2 4   4 3   3   1 1 3 5
8 HANGA, ADAM 14:02 2 1/3 0/2   1 1 2 2 2   1       5
9 BOLMARO, LEANDRO 11:12     0/2 0/2       3   1     5 1 -6
10 SMITS, ROLANDS 16:17 20 7/8 2/2   3 2 5           1   23
13 HEURTEL, THOMAS 16:11   0/1 0/3     1 1 8 2 2     1   4
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 15:25   0/1             1       2 1 -1
21 ABRINES, ALEX 19:17 12 0/1 3/6 3/4 1 1 2 1 1 1     1 3 12
22 HIGGINS, CORY 20:30 11 3/5 1/1 2/2   3 3 1 3         4 20
23 MARTINEZ, SERGI 12:04 2 1/1       2 2   1 1     3   1
24 KURIC, KYLE 19:16 25 2/3 7/8     1 1     1     2 1 22
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 18:39 16 4/6 2/4 2/2 3 5 8 1 1 2 1     2 23
99 CALATHES, NICK 19:32 5 1/2 1/1     5 5 8 1 2       1 17
Team             1 1     1          
Totals 200:00 97 20/35 16/30 9/12 12 22 34 27 12 14 2 1 16 16 125
        57.1% 53.3% 75%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
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
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 HAMILTON, JOHNNY 3:33           1 1     1          
4 BROWN, LORENZO 25:54 10 4/6 0/3 2/2 1   1 3 3 3   1 1 3 10
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 20:21 9 3/5 1/3     3 3 5   4     3 2 8
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH 12:26 3   1/3     1 1     2     1   -1
13 BIBEROVIC, TARIK 13:27 3   1/3     3 3     3     1 1 1
21 PIERRE, DYSHAWN 18:55 4 1/2 0/2 2/2 1 2 3 3   3     1 3 6
22 BARTHEL, DANILO 14:30 7 3/4   1/2 1   1 2   1     2 1 6
24 VESELY, JAN 19:54 6 3/7     2   2       1       5
31 EDDIE, JARELL 27:21 7 1/2 1/2 2/2   3 3 3   3   1 2 1 6
35 MUHAMMED, ALI 12:35 2 1/3 0/1   1   1     1     2 3  
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 14:42 4 2/3     1 3 4   1 2     2   4
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 16:22     0/1         1 1 2     1 2  
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 55 18/32 4/18 7/8 7 17 24 17 5 25 1 2 16 16 46
        56.3% 22.2% 87.5%
Head coach: KOKOSKOV, IGOR

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
FC Barcelona

"I think we had a lot of respect for Fenerbahce. Obviously, we were really worried about their defense. We moved the ball really well, got a lot of open shots. Obviously, they missed Nando [De Colo] a lot. Ultimately, this is a fantastic result and a great evening for us. A lot of things clicked tonight. This difference is not normal against such a great team."

"Congratulations to our players and fans for a great evening. We had a really good game today against a team that is usually making things very difficult for the other teams. It is very difficult to score against them with their height and their physicality. Basically, in all the positions, we were the ones who were dominating with physicality, and that was one of the keys to the game. It was very nice, of course, that everybody played and everybody contributed. This is the way. We have to continue. We were very involved on defense. We knew it was going to be difficult to score against them and each of my players went out to play his game, putting our team first. We had to admit that Nando De Colo's absence is very important for them, but I think that, above all, we have to happy with the effort we put. In some games, we played three good quarters or two good quarters against some teams, but in general, we didn't slow down, worked hard and this is very important. If we want to win anything, our effort must be steady for all 40 minutes."

KOKOSKOV, IGOR
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"We have to congratulate Barcelona on a great performance tonight. The only thing that I have to say is that only one team played tonight. Only one team showed up. That was Barcelona, so I just want to use this opportunity to congratulate Coach Sarunas and his team for its performance. They gave us a good lesson. So we have to move forward. Definitely, we didn't show up tonight. It is no secret, this roster is built to try to win the EuroLeague this year. They have the potential, the depth, the deep roster, a good mix of young and veteran players, and a very good balance on their roster. They have a pretty good chance to go all the way."

Players

MIROTIC, NIKOLA
FC Barcelona
"We did an amazing job today, offensively and defensively, playing against a very good team like Fenerbahce. But we allowed 55 points tonight, and I am really proud of my team, the way we played this game. We just need to continue working this way. We know what we are capable of. We just need to keep improving. There is, of course, room for us to get better. Right now, we are feeling very comfortable, but the most important thing is that we are playing great defense. We have size, are rebounding the ball and at the end of the day, everybody is playing well. All 12 guys played tonight, which is great for us."
KURIC, KYLE
FC Barcelona
"It was an important game for us. They are a very good team. And I think we played very well, together. Every game is important, but we played together and that is what we wanted for us. We had a great game plan on defense and stuck to it. We helped everybody out and communicated really well. It was a good team defensive effort."