CSKA Moscow remained one of two undefeated teams on the season, and Cory Higgins was instrumental as the team rallied in the second half and picked up a 85-90 road win at AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan on Thursday night, in the process earning Higgins the MVP of the Round 6 honor. Higgins scored 10 of his season-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. He made 6-of-8 two-pointers, 1-of-3 three-pointers and all 8 free throws, while adding 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 7 drawn fouls to his tally. His performance index rating of 28 was the highest of players on winning teams in Round 6. The highest PIR this week, 34, belonged to Georgios Printezis of Olympiacos Piraeus. In a loss at the hands of arch-rival Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, Printezis scored 26 points, had 4 rebounds, 3 assists and drew 6 fouls. Alexey Shved of Khimki Moscow Region had a PIR of 28, like Higgins, but Khimki lost at home against FC Barcelona Lassa. Shved netted 27 points, and also had 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Wrapping up the list of top performers in Round 6 are two big men with an index rating of 27: Ante Tomic of Barcelona and Gustavo Ayon of Real Madrid. Tomic collected 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 6 fouls drawn in the 80-87 road win over Khimki, while Ayon posted 12 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in a 66-87 road triumph at Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.
Individual leaders: Jeff Brooks of AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan, 13 rebounds
Shved was the top scorer in Round 6 with his 27-point output. Shved increased his lead as EuroLeague’s top scorer with 25.8 points per game. Jeff Brooks of AX Milan pulled down 13 rebounds, a career-high and more than any other player this round. Walter Tavares of Madrid leads the rebounding charts this season with 7.8 per contest. Milan’s Mike James led all players with a career-best 12 assists in Round 6. James now ranks second with 7.2 assists per game, behind the leader and his former teammate Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos who averages 8.7 per game. Jan Vesely of Fenerbahce Istanbul and Tornike Shengelia of KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz went against each other on Friday night, and each had 4 steals in the game, respective career-highs and the best of the week. Stefan Jovic of FC Bayern Munich leads the league in steals with 2.3 per night. CSKA’s Kyle Hines had 3 blocks, the most in Round 6. The overall shot-blocking leader is still Tavares with an average of 2.2. There were three double-doubles in Round 6: Ayon had 12 points plus 12 rebounds, Bryant Dunston of Anadolu Efes Istanbul collected 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Milan’s James had 16 points and 12 assists.