2021-22Regular SeasonRound 11
November 19, 2021 CET: 18:45
Local time: 20:45 SIBUR ARENA

Zenit edges Milan for fifth straight

After a game in which neither team held a lead larger than 8 points, Zenit St Petersburg protected its home court once again, edging AX Armani Exchange Milan 74-70 on Friday night. It was Zenit's fifth consecutive win and Milan's second straight loss, leaving both with 8-3 records, good for a share of third place. The teams traded blows and changed leads throughout the game, but Zenit used a 12-2 run over more than 6 minutes late in the fourth quarter to restore an advantage and pull out the victory. Jordan Mickey paced the hosts with 17 points. Jordan Loyd collected 13 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Arturas Gudaitis had 13 points plus 7 rebounds for Zenit. Sergio Rodriguez posted 20 points and 6 assists for Milan. Kyle Hines added 12 points and 8 rebounds, while Shavon Shields scored 10 in the losing effort.

Milan started strong, with Nicolo Melli scoring 6 points as the visitors took a 4-12 lead. Zenit hit right back, though. Loyd quickly scored 5 points, including a triple, and dished an assist for Mateusz Ponitka's reverse layup to spark a 13-0 run that put Zenit up 17-12. Hines ended Milan's drought with a put-back and Shields drove for a basket-plus-free throw to help make it 19-19 after 10 minutes. Scoring runs continued early in the second quarter, when Zenit downed the first 5 points only for Milan to answer with a three-pointer from Rodriguez and a three-point play from Hines. Zenit scored the next 5 points, with a triple from Sergey Karasev making it 29-25. Milan took its turn again, this time putting together a 1-8 run during which Giampaolo Ricci nailed a triple. A triple and a mid-range jumper from Rodriguez helped the visitors hold a 35-39 halftime lead.

Mickey and Gudaitis combined for 8 points early in the third quarter before a corner triple from Karasev put Zenit in front 48-42. Devon Hall hit a pair of triples for Milan, but Mickey strung together 6 points for the hosts to maintain the lead. Billy Baron's triple opened a 57-50 gap before Ricci matched him, sparking a 0-7 run that tied the game. Then, Mickey and Rodriguez traded three-pointers, too, for a 60-60 scoreboard going into the final quarter.

Baron opened the final frame with a tough runner before Rodriguez and Hines combined on the next 6 points to put Milan in front. However, Gudaitis had a three-point play and Loyd scored 5 points, including a triple, which put Zenit up 71-66 with 3:27 to go. Rodriguez scored from close range to end visitors' three-minute scoring drought, but Baron answered with a mid-range jumper, and a pair of defensive stands helped the hosts take a 74-68 lead into the final minute, where they held on for a big victory.

Zenit continues trend against Milan

This was the fourth game between these two teams. Just like the previous three, this one was decided by single digits. Three of the four games to date between Zenit and Milan have now been decided by 6 or fewer points. Home teams won each of the previous three games, just as this one, and only once in four games between these two teams has either team score 80 or more points. This turned out to be the lowest-scoring affair between two clubs as their defenses allowed few easy baskets. Zenit was held to 25% three-point shooting, although it did score on 60.6% of its two-point shots. Milan did better from the outside, making 7 of 17 (41.2%), but was held to just 43.6% for two-pointers.

Late run lifts Zenit against Milan

Milan went up 62-66 on a fastbreak basket by Sergio Rodriguez with 6:37 to go. In the 6 minutes that followed, Zenit allowed just one more basket, a short jumper by Rodriguez. Meanwhile, during that span, Arturas Gudaitis converted a three-point play that put Zenit up for good, 67-66, and Jordan Loyd scored 5 points, including a three-pointer, to make it 71-66. During that 12-2 run, Zenit forced 3 turnovers and held Milan to just 1 field goal made in 7 attempts. It turned out to be the run that decided a closely contested affair.

Loyd, Gudaitis lead Zenit's charge

Neither was their team's top scorer, but Arturas Gudaitis and Jordan Loyd were key performers for Zenit against Milan. Big man Gudaitis, who played against his former team, finished with 13 points on 5-for-6 two-point shooting and pulled down 7 rebounds, 5 of which came on the offensive glass. The entire Milan team had 8 offensive rebounds.

Loyd did a bit of everything for Zenit, scoring 13 points, but also dishing a game-high 7 assists and grabbing 6 rebounds. He also took the matters into his own hands when it was most necessary, making a floater that cut the deficit to 64-66 midway through the fourth quarter, then nailing a triple minutes later to make it 71-66, a deficit that Zenit was not going to relinquish.

Jordan Mickey - Zenit St Petersburg - EB21
Friday, November 19, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; VYKLICKY, ROBERT
Attendance: 2072
By Quarter1234
Zenit St Petersburg19162514
AX Armani Exchange Milan19202110
End of Quarter1234
Zenit St Petersburg19356074
AX Armani Exchange Milan19396070
Zenit St Petersburg
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 LOYD, JORDAN 30:27 13 3/6 2/6 1/3 1 5 6 7 1 4     3 5 16
3 ZAKHAROV, DENIS 7:19 2 1/1 0/1         2         1   2
7 KARASEV, SERGEY 22:58 9 0/2 2/5 3/3 1 2 3 1 1 1     4 1 5
12 BARON, BILLY 19:49 9 3/5 1/4     1 1 1   1   2   1 4
14 PUSHKOV, ANTON DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 0:22                              
20 ZUBKOV, ANDREY 13:47 1   0/4 1/2 1   1     1     2 1 -5
22 POYTHRESS, ALEX 16:10 2 1/1       3 3     1     1 1 4
25 PONITKA, MATEUSZ 27:06 4 1/2 0/1 2/2 3 6 9 2   2     1 2 12
33 FRANKAMP, CONNER 12:29 4 1/3   2/2   2 2 1   1     1 1 4
55 MICKEY, JORDAN 26:45 17 5/7 1/3 4/5 2 2 4 2   1 1   2 2 18
77 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 22:48 13 5/6   3/5 5 2 7 1     2   5 4 19
Team             1 1     2         -1
Totals 200:00 74 20/33 6/24 16/22 13 24 37 17 2 14 3 2 20 18 78
        60.6% 25% 72.7%
Head coach: PASCUAL, XAVI
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
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
9 MELLI, NICOLO 21:30 8 3/8 0/1 2/2 1 5 6 2 2 1     3 1 9
10 GRANT, JERIAN 21:35   0/2 0/2         4 1   1 1     1
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 31:40 20 4/6 3/7 3/4       6 2 2     3 6 22
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 6:54 2 0/1   2/2           1       1 1
17 RICCI, GIAMPAOLO 26:09 8 0/1 2/2 2/2 1 1 2 1 1       2 2 11
19 BILIGHA, PAUL 1:30                         1   -1
22 HALL, DEVON 27:25 8 1/4 2/4     2 2   3 1 1 1 1 2 8
30 DANIELS, TROY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 28:44 10 4/8 0/1 2/2 1 4 5 1   4     2 3 8
40 ALVITI, DAVIDE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
42 HINES, KYLE 24:01 12 5/8   2/3 4 4 8 1 1     1 4 4 17
70 DATOME, LUIGI 10:32 2 0/1   2/2 1 2 3   1       2 1 4
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 70 17/39 7/17 15/17 8 19 27 15 11 9 2 3 18 20 81
        43.6% 41.2% 88.2%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

PASCUAL, XAVI
Zenit St Petersburg

“It was a real EuroLeague game, two teams fighting until the end. We played against an amazing team, an amazing coach, and amazing players, like Chacho Rodriguez, who I always dreamed about coaching but never did. I think we have to be happy for tonight's win, even though we shot very bad at three-pointers, only 24%. We were fighintg until the end. In the last quarter, we played great defense and controlled the rebounds, and that was also the key. Some offensive rebounds gave us second chances and free throws, and in a game like this, that both teams could have won, one detail decided it.”

"Gudaitis played a very good game. He always tries to be motivated, tries to help the team. In the last part of the game he did very well with his offensive rebounds, his low-post action. It was not an easy game, we had problems. Poythress had a stomach virus, he was not in the practice yesterday and played without energy. Conner Frankamp also had the same problems. But all the team was together, fought until the end. We are a team, they all want to help, so congratulations to the team."

MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
“It was a hard-fought game on both sides. It came down to missing a couple of shots by us, them making a couple of shots. A couple of loose balls went their way. I am very proud of what my team did after a bad loss three days ago.”

Players

LOYD, JORDAN
Zenit St Petersburg
“It was really special. I am super-happy for the club, for the guys. Everybody stepped in, everybody who played tonight did their job. Credit to our bigs – Mickey, Gudaitis, Zubkov, Poythress, everybody. They battled down there, they set some screens for us, and we made some pretty good shots down the stretch.”
GUDAITIS, ARTURAS
Zenit St Petersburg
“It was emotional and special for me because it is my former team and I really wanted to win. We did it as a team, and I am really happy about this. I thing the key was our fight. We struggled a little bit against their switching defense, but we managed it and we fought until the end. Today was all about fighting.”