For both teams, this will be the first game after the international break. Two Loko players, Andrey Martyuk and Vladislav Emchenko, played for the Russian national team, as well as two UNICS ones, Andrey Lopatin and Mikhail Belenitsky.
Originally, the opponents were supposed to play in Kazan in mid-October. But due to the BRICS summit in the capital of Tatarstan, it was decided to swap venues.
On October 20, Lokomotiv won quite confidently: the final score of 78:71 does not reflect the balance of power – even UNICS coach Velimir Perasović admitted this at the press conference. Four minutes before the end, the scoreboard showed 71:53 in favor of the Krasnodar team.
Anton Kvitkovskikh had a great game that evening – 16 points and 7 rebounds. Antonius Cleveland (15+3 steals) and BJ Johnson (13+7) were also good. Jalen Reynolds (18+11) scored a double-double for UNICS. Marcos Knight scored 16 points, but only made 6 shots from the field out of 15. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell also scored 6, but out of 17 attempts (14 points). The defense managed to shut down the opponent’s main point guard, Tony Taylor – he was able to score only 6 points (before that, he averaged 15.5 per game).
This will be the 65th time the opponent’s play in the VTB United League, Supercup and European tournaments. Loko currently has 29 wins, UNICS has 35. In the previous game, both opponents surpassed the 5,000-point mark scored. So, now the total score is 5,037:5,026 in favor of Loko.
Dmitry Kulagin and Ismael Bako were both called up to their national teams, but refused, citing injuries. So, their participance tomorrow is in question. Karvel Anderson, who missed a month due to a broken finger, arrived with the team to Kazan, and the Loko coaching staff will decide tomorrow, if he can play.
Mikhail Vedishchev got additional game practice on Thursday – he played for the Superliga team ORSS-Loko. With 19 points, he became the top scorer in the game against Metallurg and helped the Krasnodar reserves take their second victory in a row (86:85).
For more fun trivia check the preview written by the United VTB league journalists.
Посмотрим вместе?
Lokomotiv Kuban PBC invites you to a joint viewing of the game against UNICS. Starting at 2:15 PM, we are waiting for you in the central atrium of the Foodmarket space (City Center mall, 176 Krasnaya St.). There will be contests and prize draws, as well as dancing from LOKS Dancers.
Also, the game will be broadcasted live by the Krasnodar and Match TV channels, as well as by the VTB United League website and ours.
Go, Loko!