Frutti Extra Bursaspor showed great aggressiveness in the paint in its 80-66 home victory against Umana Reyer Venice in a rescheduled game from Round 11.
Telling numbers: Bursaspor ruled the backboards
Bursaspor heavily out-rebounded Reyer by 43-22, in which arguably was the biggest key to this game. It was the hosts' second-highest rebounding mark in its two EuroCup seasons, after the 47 its rebounders pulled down against Promitheas Patras in Round 4 this season. Kevarrius Hayes led the way with 15 rebounds, a new career-high and the joint second-best total in the EuroCup this season. His teammate David Dudzinski pulled down 16 boards in that game against Promitheas. Bursaspor boxed out close to perfection, allowing Reyer to grab just 3 offensive rebounds. The hosts pulled down 31 of a 43 total rebounds available under their own rim, or 91.2%.
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At the same time, Bursaspor buried 9 of 18 three-point shots (50%) and hit 25 of 46 attempts inside the arc (54.3%). Those 46 two-point attempts tied a club record and are the highest total this season for head coach Dusan Alimpijevic's team. Reyer could not catch up. The visitors made 16 of 32 two-pointers (50%) and 10 of 27 from downtown (37%). Reyer had more assists (15-20) and fewer turnovers (11-8). But in a game with very few turnovers, rebounding was more important than usual and Bursaspor did a great job, dominating the boards.