By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
No team can win easily on the road in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, however, nobody expected that UNICS Kazan will defend its home court with such strength and destroy AX Armani Exchange Milan. The trio of Isaiah Canaan (22 p.) on 6/8 threes, O.J.Mayo (20 p.) on 5/9 threes, and John Brown (19 p.) were simply too much for the Italians, leading UNICS to the 97-71 win.
All three players registered a EuroLeague personal best in scoring. “I am just glad we had such a game and a big win, but we still have a long way to go starting from the next game of this double action week”, said UNICS captain Brown just after the final buzzer.
After a close first quarter (19-17), Mayo scored 10 points in the second period, Canaan had 11 in the same quarter, and UNICS lead by 13 (41-28). At halftime, the hosts went to the locker rooms with an 11-point advantage (44-33).
Milan tried to fight back, but the score was 71-49 at the end of the third with UNICS having their best game of the season while the guests were shooting just 24% in threes (5/21).
“Well there’s not that much to say, they kicked our butt and they deserved to win”, said Milan coach Ettore Messina.
The hosts led even by 35 points (95-60) and the game was over. “It’s not normal to score like that, but in other games, we had problems in scoring, this time we made really tough shots so that helped”, added UNICS coach Velimir Perasovic.
Shavon Shields, Gigi Datome, and Nicolo Melli scored 10 points each in an off night for the guests, while UNICS finished the game with 14/29 threes. “It’s a team victory and our fans were amazing, they come out in the cold and we tried to get them warm with a good win”, said Canaan.
UNICS got to a 5-5 record, while Milan remains on the top of the standings but dropped to 8-2 for a tie with Real Madrid.