For the first time in the season, we lost to Zenit

Main team news

26.02.2023

The reigning champion Zenit took advantage of an unsuccessful day of Kazan snipers and only on the third attempt managed to defeat UNICS in the current draw of the VTB United League regular season - 80:69. However, the success on the parquet of Basket Hall did not help the blue-white much: there are as many as 4 victories in the opponents' table.

The key to winning the guests was the high accuracy of hits from behind the arc - 48%, while our long-range artillery realized only 5 out of 25 three-point attempts. In most of the main game components, UNICS at least did not concede to Zenit, and in terms of offensive rebounds, it even surpassed its opponents twice - 12 to 6.

Neno DIMITRIJEVIC (13 + 4 assists + 3 rebounds), Louis LABEYRIE (12 + 9 rebounds) and Daryl MACON (12 + 3 assists + 3 rebounds + 3 steals) submitted to the double-digit limit of points scored by the white-greens.

VTB United League. Regular season. Round 27.
UNICS (Kazan) — Zenit (Saint Petersburg) – 69:80 (13:20, 17:22, 17:26, 22:12).
UNICS: Dimitrijevic (13 + 4 assists + 3 rebounds), Labeyrie (12 + 9 rebounds), Macon (12+3 assists + 3 rebounds + 3 steals), Reynolds (10 + 7 rebounds), Zhbanov (8 + 3 rebounds), Kulagin (6).
Zenit: Homesley (16 + 6 rebounds), Fraser (12 + 9 assists), Kulagin (9 + 7 assists).

POSTGAME COMMENTS:

Velimir PERASOVIC, BC UNICS head coach:

«Congratulations to Zenit on the victory. They were better from the beginning to the end. For the entire 40 minutes, we didn't have a chance to stay in the game. In the first half we made a lot of mistakes and didn't defend as planned. After a long break, we improved the defense, but by that time too much had already been missed.
Sometimes it happens that even with a strong desire, not everything works out. Today, the opponent showed an excellent percentage of three-pointers. They constantly found their snipers in advantageous positions. On the contrary, we missed a lot of open shots, which is usually not typical for us. Another indicator of the quality of the guests' game is 22 assists against 10 assists from us. But what happened happened. I prefer not to look for excuses. We will learn a lesson and do our best to play better next time».

Mikhail KULAGIN, BC UNICS guard:

«Today Zenit turned out to be stronger than us. They came to the match more prepared. I think we didn't show our game, missed a lot of free throws and naturally lost. The next match with CSKA is only a few days away. Nevertheless, we will work on the mistakes, try to correct the shortcomings and please our fans».