UCAM Murcia CB has opened its record of victories in the Basketball Champions League with more work than brilliance to overcome an Igokea team that was practically offered no option during the match (72-47). After losing to Bertram Derthona on the first day, the university team returned to the Palace in a competition in which they always appear very solid and consistent when playing at home. And so it was at the end of forty minutes.
Achieving the first home win in Europe at the same time as managing the week with a view to the third match to be played this Sunday at the Palacio against BAXI Manresa (12:30 p.m.) was Sito Alonso’s recipe, and it came to fruition. perfection. Center Simon Birgander and forward David Jelínek did not participate in the match, so they were able to rest ahead of the next round in the Endesa League. This allowed both Jordan Sakho and Moussa Diagné, who did not miss a single two-point shot, to gain more prominence in the paint on a day in which they both shared the work in the inside game and in which they were also able to manage fouls . Dylan Ennis and Sant-Roos had much more prominence in attack, leading their team during several phases of the match despite having Troy Caupain on the court. In fact, the shooting guard finished the match with six assists, four of them in the first quarter, compared to the forward’s five as well. Kurucs also joined this aspect, with four.
Even so, UCAM was unable to make up for its lack of success from three-point range, where it once again suffered from errors in its shots for much of the match, except for the third quarter. The university team disconnected Igokea from the defense, they were able to run and be aggressive on the counterattack, and that allowed them to nullify an Igokea who, despite trying to take a step forward after passing through the locker room, had almost no chance of taking the win. in Murcia.
With this victory, in the absence of the duel against Tofas Bursa to close the first round of the group stage, the university students equal their balance with the Turkish team after adding the first victory, while Igokea occupies fourth place, which does not give access to the play-in, after suffering two defeats.
Troy Caupain returned from the start at UCAM Murcia along with Jordan Sakho who was the main novelty in the quintet. The center was very active in the paint in the early stages of the game and his were the first baskets for a university team that knew how to run and deploy quick attacks led by Ennis and Sant-Roos during the start (4-3). Tanaskovic became Igokea’s main threat, with five consecutive points, but Caupain, with two triples, managed to give Sito Alonso’s team the first advantage (12-9). The university coach completed the rotation of his quintet once the first quarter was halfway over, although the pace of the match was reduced. Even so, UCAM knew how to stay ahead with the good decisions made by Hakanson in this section (19-11).
A 4-0 partial forced Jovanovic, the visiting coach, to request his first timeout as soon as the second quarter started (23-11). It was then that UCAM made its defense its best attack, with a steal by McFadden that allowed it to have a 14-point lead (25-11). Gordic tried to close the gap for the Bosnian team from the triple, but it was just a mirage. UCAM closed all the gaps at the back, appeared waterproof and solid to continue adding points to the counterattack with Radovic and ended up unsettling their rival too soon (33-17). Sito Alonso’s team could have had greater income if he were to be more successful, especially from the triple, where he failed to score in this quarter, and half-time was reached at 35-19.
Igokea took a step forward as soon as they returned from the locker room with a 4-10 run that reduced the gap to ten points (39-29). UCAM had a hard time getting back into the game with its starting quintet on the court, but managed to react at times thanks to the spark of Dylan Ennis. It was then that Caupain broke the university team’s bad streak from the triple, with his third shot scored, but Igokea found it easier to score than in the first half to continue fighting to hold on to the game (46-34). Ennis, in the first outside shot converted other than Caupain, once again gave more oxygen to a UCAM that was forced to raise its defensive level. Thus he managed to run again and find Sleva so that, with the third local triple in this period, he once again established the 17-point lead (51-34). McFadden also joined the outside scoring to end his poor scoring streak in the last few games and the university students had a 20-point lead before heading into the final quarter (58-38).
In the last quarter, UCAM did not take its foot off the accelerator and managed to maintain its advantage in the first minutes. Even so, the scoring pace decreased on the part of both teams, between inaccuracies and defensive successes, and it was Moussa Diagne who managed to see the basket regularly in these final stages of the match (67-43). The center took over these minutes in both paintings and Hakanson opened even more distances from the triple (70-43). An ‘alley oop’ from McFadden for Kurucs closed the match and UCAM added its first victory at home this season in the Basketball Champions League after failing to do so on the first day played in Italy (72-47).
Sito Alonso: «In this group you cannot fail at home»
UCAM Murcia CB did not fail in its return to the Palacio de los Deportes in the Basketball Champions League and yesterday managed to add its first victory of the season in the European competition after losing to Bertram Derthona on the opening day. The university team always appears solid and regular in its stadium in this competition and yesterday confirmed it again to secure an important victory that places it in second position awaiting its duel against Tofas Bursa to complete the first round in the phase of groups. “For me it is very important to have won this match after, according to seeing the duels that the rest of the rivals have played so far, it is clear that you cannot fail at home in this group,” Sito Alonso explained yesterday after beat Igokea in the Palace.
The university coach was very happy with the way his team won, where his work on the defensive side stood out. «Without playing a brilliant game in terms of success, which we are not finding and which is not worrying because we saved it with other things, we have carried out a very difficult game for us. We have achieved this by being compact on a defensive level, despite not being successful, and it helps us face the duel against BAXI Manresa with more confidence in the ACB on Sunday,” added the Madrid coach.
In addition, Sito Alonso acknowledged that the absence of minutes from center Simon Birgander, who did not participate in the match yesterday, was due to a virus. «Birgander was dizzy and vomiting, he wanted to make the effort to play, but if he could avoid it it was better. In this sense, the rotation has been easier in that position by having two players to distribute minutes such as Sakho and Diagné,” he explained. Forward David Jelínek also did not participate yesterday against the Bosnian team, but his absence was not due to physical problems. «I think it was a game for McFadden in many aspects and maybe the next one will be for Jelínek. When everyone is physically well in a squad it is always difficult and, sometimes, betting on one of them is one of the solutions,” said Sito Alonso.
2023-11-02 06:10:04
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