2020-21Regular SeasonRound 11
Zalgiris Kaunas 75
Zenit St Petersburg 83
November 26, 2020 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA

Zenit wins again on the road

Zenit St Petersburg improved to 5-0 on the road this season with a 75-83 victory over Zalgiris Kaunas on Thursday evening at Zalgirio Arena. Austin Hollins starred in a 0-8 finish to the first quarter that put Zenit up by 10 and after leading 32-45 at halftime, Zenit opened the second half on a 2-14 tear and took to margin to 25 before coasting the rest of the way. Zalgiris rallied to 6 in the closing minutes, but ran out of time. The result lifted Zenit's record to 6-2, while Zalgiris slumped to 5-6 with its fourth straight loss at home. Hollins paced the Zenit attack with 20 points, Will Thomas tallied 16 points and 7 rebounds, Kevin Pangos delivered 13 points and 7 assists and Alex Poythress added 11 points. Marius Grigonis led Zalgiris with 18 points, Joffrey Lauvergne collected 17 points and 8 rebounds and Augustine Rubit scored 12 in defeat.

A pair of baskets by Lauvergne gave the hosts an early lead, but the defenses cooled the pace and Mateusz Ponitka's layup gave Zenit its first lead, 6-8. Thomas powered the visitors from the outside and in the paint and Hollins got going with a steal and slam followed by a three-pointer and free throws that boosted the margin to 13-23. Rubit ended Zenit's 0-8 run and closed the gap to 15-23 after 10 minutes. Zenit continued to roll as K.C. Rivers opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and Kevin Pangos soon added another to make it 17-31. A three by Grigonis got the hosts going again, but a score by Poythress made it 24-36 midway through the second quarter. Grigonis connected twice more from behind the arc to keep Zenit from pulling away, but Thomas left the visitors comfortable ahead, 32-45, at the break.

Zenit came out hot for the second half with back-to-back threes by Hollins and Pangos. Before long, Thomas and Ponitka added triples. Pangos zipped through the Zalgiris defense with a layup to cap a 2-14 run that made it 34-59. Grigonis provided a spark for Zalgiris and a modest 6-0 run with points from Lauvergne, Paulius Jankunas and Arturas Milaknis trimmed the deficit to 47-63. Lauvergne added a jumper to make it 51-66 through three quarters. Nigel Hayes heated up for Zalgiris and Lauvergne's steal and slam made it 58-68. Rokus Jokubaitis narrowed the gap to 8 before Hollins relaxed the visitors with a jumper and an all-balance three by Thomas extended the lead to 69-81 with 2 and a half minutes to play. Even though Grigonis sank free throws that made it a 6-point game, the clock became a Zalgiris opponent, too, and Zenit held on for the victory.

Hot start

Zalgiris had no response for Austin Hollins in the early going as the Zenit guard netted 13 first-quarter points. He was 2 for 2 on three-pointers and did not miss on 5 trips to the line in helping the visitors take charge.

Decisive run

The visitors led by 13 at halftime, but a strong start for Zalgiris could have changed things quickly. However, Austin Hollins, Kevin Pangos, Will Thomas and Mateusz Ponitka all hit threes in a 2-14 Zenit charge to make it 34-59 and the controlled the score the rest of the way.

Impact numbers

Zenit combined to shoot 12 for 23 (52.2%) on three-pointers, with three players knocking down 3 shots from downtown. Will Thomas was 3 for 3, while Kevin Pangos and Austin Hollins were both 3 for 4.

What's next?

For its next game, Zenit begins December at home against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Thursday, December 3. The following day, Zalgiris hosts FC Barcelona.

Austin Hollins - Zenit St Petersburg - EB20
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; LATISEVS, OLEGS; PANTHER, ANNE
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas15171924
Zenit St Petersburg23222117
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas15325175
Zenit St Petersburg23456683
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WALKUP, THOMAS 19:19 5 1/6 1/3   1 1 2 4   2     3 2 1
4 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 20:41 2 1/4 0/1     1 1 2   2   1 1 2 -1
10 HAYES-DAVIS, NIGEL 20:53 9 1/1 1/1 4/6 1 1 2 2         2 5 14
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 13:20 6 3/3 0/1   3 2 5           3   7
16 LUKOSIUNAS, KAROLIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 13:11 2   0/3 2/2       1 1       3 1 -1
23 GEBEN, MARTINAS 6:34               1         1    
24 RUBIT, AUGUSTINE 16:48 12 5/6   2/2 1 3 4             3 18
31 JOKUBAITIS, ROKAS 21:26 4 2/5 0/2     1 1 1   1     1   -1
32 VASTURIA, STEVE 14:37   0/3 0/1   1 2 3 1   1   1 2   -4
40 GRIGONIS, MARIUS 30:21 18 1/3 4/4 4/4 1   1 3 1 1     2 4 22
77 LAUVERGNE, JOFFREY 22:50 17 7/9 1/2   3 5 8 1 1 3     2   19
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 75 21/40 7/18 12/14 12 17 29 16 3 10 0 2 20 17 76
        52.5% 38.9% 85.7%
Head coach: SCHILLER, MARTIN
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
Zenit St Petersburg
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 RIVERS, KC 17:45 6 0/1 2/4 0/1       1 1       1 1 4
3 ZAKHAROV, DENIS 6:36 2 1/1 0/1         1   2     2   -2
4 PANGOS, KEVIN 26:20 13 2/2 3/4     1 1 7 1 1     5 3 18
7 FRIDZON, VITALY 0:25     0/1                       -1
9 HOLLINS, AUSTIN 25:27 20 3/7 3/4 5/5   1 1   1 1       3 19
10 THOMAS, WILL 26:44 16 3/7 3/3 1/2 3 4 7 1   1     2 2 18
12 BARON, BILLY 20:31 2 0/1 0/2 2/2   1 1 4 1 1     1 2 5
14 PUSHKOV, ANTON DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 ZUBKOV, ANDREY 13:16 4 2/2 0/1   1   1 3           1 8
22 POYTHRESS, ALEX 22:01 11 4/8   3/4 3 1 4 1   1 1   3 2 10
25 PONITKA, MATEUSZ 23:21 3 0/1 1/3   1 4 5 5 1 2     2 4 11
77 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 17:34 6 1/2   4/4   2 2   1   1   1 2 10
Team           2 3 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 83 16/32 12/23 15/18 10 17 27 23 6 10 2 0 17 20 104
        50% 52.2% 83.3%
Head coach: PASCUAL, XAVI

Head Coaches

SCHILLER, MARTIN
Zalgiris Kaunas
"First of all, congratulations to Zenit. In spurts, a good game for us, but only in spurts. The 13-point lead at the half didn't feel like a 13-point lead to us. It was like little things that had to be controlled in order to get back into the game. The theme that we've had is that we've dug ourselves holes and we dug ourselves a hole again in the beginning of the second half and then the theme of the games is that we dig ourselves out, crawl out of the holes, but the holes are too deep to get out of them in 40 minutes. So again, the last 16 minutes, we win the game 41-26 and perform well, perform well defensively which then leads to our offense. We’re not so worried about our offense. But again, digging the holes is the challenge that we have to fight in order to give ourselves chances to win against these quality teams."
PASCUAL, XAVI
Zenit St Petersburg
"I am very happy today that we played one of our games best games until now. Offensively and defensively, on both sides. I have to say congratulations also to Zalgiris because it was a lesson for us that when we led by 20 points, they fought and they came back somehow into the game. We had control of the score all the time, we took care of our situations and we played smart on offense. For us, it was a great win tonight. We are very happy. Wet started the season very well. After that, as you said because of the pandemic, we were one month out. But finally, day by day, we are better. We are getting to the rhythm we had before. But we have to continue. There are a lot of games left to play and we have to continue this way."

Players

PANGOS, KEVIN
Zenit St Petersburg
"I thought we played a pretty complete game. Defensively, we were pretty solid, didn’t make many mistakes and we turned that into offense and were making shots. When you combine the two, it's great for our team, we looked great out there. They are a great team and we knew that they were going to keep fighting to the very end and they did just that. So we had to try and play solid, try and continue playing the way we were and not let their aggressiveness on defense affect us. Overall, I think we did a great job."
HOLLINS, AUSTIN
Zenit St Petersburg
"It was just an aggressive game. We stuck to the game plan really well tonight. Obviously, we let them back in the game late, but you know, we got the W and that's most important. We stuck together, we were hitting shots tonight and we’ll go back to the drawing board, but we’re happy to get out of here with a W. You can’t hit [three-pointers] every game, but we know what we’re capable of doing. We know we’ve been missing shots and every game we come in focused and ready to hit shots. Some nights they fall, some nights they don’t and tonight was one of those nights where they were going in."