MIES (Switzerland) - Out of the eight teams going to battle on this Wednesday's Round of 16 action, two - La Laguna Tenerife and AEK Betsson BC - have already qualified for the BCL Quarter-Finals and only one - Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola - can't fight anymore to extend their season.
This means as many as five teams are going to give it all on the court to make the best out of their fifth gameday at this stage of the competition, dreaming big about playing BCL basketball in April too. We got you covered with all you need to know from each of these four matchups.
Aliaga Petkimspor (1-3) vs. La Laguna Tenerife (4-0) - Group K, 18:00 CET
Aliaga Petkimspor have won five of their seven games played as the home team in the BCL but four of those wins ended with a single-digit margin; five of their 13 games in the competition have been played against Spanish teams and they won only one of those - it was last week at home against BAXI Manresa (89-86).
Tenerife have won their last 10 games in the BCL, their second-longest winning run in the competition (W12 in 2022); they have won their five away games in the BCL this season, each by margins of 10+ points.
Tenerife (41.6%) and Petkimspor (40.8%) have the best three-point percentages among all teams in the BCL 2024-25; consequently, they are two of the three teams that have seen at least 40 percent of their total points being scored from behind the arc in the BCL this season (Tenerife 42.7% and Petkimspor 40% - also VEF Riga, 40.7%).
Wesley Van Beck (Petkimspor) has scored more than 10 points in each of his last six home games in the BCL, making multiple three-pointers in each of those games (3.3 per game on average in that span).
Marcelinho Huertas (Tenerife) has averaged 21.0 points and 6.9 assists in his last seven BCL games in the Round of 16, making at least one three-pointer in each of those games and 100 percent of his 30 free-throws in that run. He has scored more points (383) and delivered more assists (205) than any other player in the Round of 16 in the BCL history.
One win away from the Turkish Playoffs picture, Petkimspor recently lost 85-75 on the road against Turk Telekom Ankara; subtracting 10 points at each party, Tenerife won 75-65 - with 21 points and 9 rebounds from Giorgi Shermadini - over Bilbao in Miribilla Arena, that hosted the 2022 BCL Final Four.
FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets (2-2) vs. Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola (0-4) - Group I, 18:30 CET
FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets have lost their last two games in the BCL but are yet to lose three in a row in the competition; each of their last eight BCL games ended with margins of eight points or fewer and four of those games saw a win of the team trailing at half-time.
Promitheas have lost their four games in the Round of 16, their longest losing run in the competition; three of those defeats came by margins of 20+ points after losing only two games by such margins in their first 40 games in the competition.
Wurzburg have grabbed 75.7 percent of the rebounds available under their defensive basket, more than any other team in the BCL this season, while Promitheas have the lowest such rate, having grabbed only 60.2 percent of the rebounds available under their rim.
Jhivvan Jackson (Wurzburg) has scored 20+ points in three of his last four BCL games, including in the reverse fixture against Promitheas (21), after never reaching that total in any of his first six games. He is averaging 3.4 three-pointers made in his five home games and is yet to miss a free-throw at home (15-of-15).
Only Ismael Kamagate (23) and Johann Grunloh (17) have made more blocks than Promitheas' Jordon Varnado (14) in the BCL this season. He has had two games with 15+ points and 5+ rebounds and one of those was against Wurzburg (15 points and 5 rebounds).
Wurzburg are currently out of the post-season picture in the BBL, standing in 12th position, having lost to another BCL participant NINERS Chemnitz on Sunday despite Davion Mintz's 22-point effort; being already eliminated from Quarter-Finals contention in the BCL, Promitheas are fighting for a spot in the Greek Playoffs, lastly beating Panionios 101-93 on the road also thanks to Jordan Walker's 28 points.
Nanterre 92 (2-2) vs. UCAM Murcia (3-1) - Group L, 20:00 CET
Nanterre 92 lost their last game in the BCL (77-100 vs. ERA Nymburk), their heaviest defeat in the competition, but have not lost consecutive games during a single season since their first two games of the 2018-19 season. They have lost their previous three games against Spanish sides, including the reverse fixture against UCAM Murcia (84-95), all by margins of greater than 10 points.
Murcia have won eight of their last nine games in the BCL but the sole defeat in that span came away from home (70-85 vs. Nymburk in the Round of 16); they have won four of their last five games against French sides but lost their last trip there (70-82 at SIG Strasbourg, December 2022).
Nanterre have seen 58.3 percent of their points being scored from two-pointers, the highest such rate among all teams in the BCL this season; on the other hand, 54.3 percent of the points allowed by UCAM Murcia came from two-pointers, the highest rate among all the 16 teams still in the competition.
Desi Rodriguez (Nanterre) has scored more than 20 points in each of his last two BCL games after doing it in only one of his first 20 appearances. He made four three-pointers last week against Nymburk after never making more than two previously in a game in the competition.
Dylan Ennis (Murcia) has scored 15+ points in each of his last six BCL games after never doing it in more than three games in a row previously; he scored 15+ points in only three of his first 20 games with Murcia prior to that run. Ennis is one of three players to have scored 300+ points in the Round of 16 in the BCL history (307 - Marcelinho Huertas 383 and Giorgi Shermadini 375).
Murcia keep on struggling in the ACB this season, dropping to 11th place after the domestic 64-76 loss to Girona with only Dylan Ennis (17 points and 7 rebounds) scoring in double-digits; Nanterre, instead, didn't have to go through any domestic appointment.
Bertram Derthona Basket (2-2) vs. AEK Betsson BC (4-0) - Group I, 20:30 CET
Bertram Derthona Basket have won eight of their nine home games in the BCL, including each of the last five; they won each of their previous two home games against teams from Greece by double-digit margins.
AEK have won their last five BCL games, including the reverse fixture against Derthona (93-86), but have not won more in succession since January-October 2020 (W6); each of their last three wins ended with a margin of seven or fewer points however, with AEK trailing at halftime in two of those games.
AEK became last week the first team to reach 1000 steals in BCL history (1002); they have made 10+ steals in two of their four games in the Round of 16, as often as in their previous 31 games combined.
Justin Gorham has scored 10+ points in each of his last four BCL games, averaging 14.0 points per game in that span after averaging 8.2 points per game in his first six BCL appearances with Derthona. He made four steals in his last game, against Promitheas, as many as in his previous 14 games combined. You should check him out for BCL Fantasy as well!
Prentiss Hubb (AEK) has scored a total of 55 points across his last three BCL games after tallying 49 points in his previous six games; he had 30 points and 6 rebounds in the reverse fixture against Derthona, making five two-pointers, five three-pointers and five free-throws in that game, one of only two AEK players to have registered 30+ points and 5+ rebounds in a BCL game (also Mindaugas Kuzminskas, 40pts, 11reb in March 2024 vs. Holon).
Derthona are on a roll domestically, having won their third matchup in Italy - lastly beating Scafati 102-79 on the road with yet again another good game by Justin Gorham (16 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists); AEK have been witnessing the exact same record after beating Lavrio 90-79 in the weekend.