Zenit have lost their captain and their chances of winning the Super Cup. Will UNICS take revenge on CSKA?
Nikita Biryukov September 13, 2024, 22:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Kazan was on the move, but the St. Petersburg club could easily win.
If Group A determined who would advance to the final of the VTB United League – CSKA Super Cup, Group B still had to determine who would win the trophy. UNICS Kazan fought for the final against Zenit St. Petersburg. How the most interesting match between the United League runner-up and the reigning Super Cup winner unfolded, who stood out on the field and who will play against CSKA – all the most interesting information is in our material.
Zenit’s best player in the match against Besiktas, Xavier Moon, opened the scoring in the match. UNICS responded to the actions of the sky-blues with two successful shots under the hoop by Ismael Bako. The forward scored four points, but was called for two personal fouls in just two minutes. The teams started the match actively, in turn, Marcos Knight and Omari Spellman exchanged accurate three-pointers. The club from the banks of the Neva was gaining momentum, and Moon himself was at the head of a breakthrough, easily taking on opponents on his feet and throwing the ball into the hoop again and again. The guard was the first to surpass the 10-point threshold in the match, scoring 12 in the first quarter. Zenit turned out to be stronger with the score at 26:18. The only frustrating thing was that the team captain, Sergei Karasev, injured his shooting hand and never appeared on the court again.
The video can be viewed on the official VTB United League Telegram channel. The rights to the video belong to the VTB United League.
Velimir Perasovic used the short break between quarters to tell his team what to do. UNICS started to play more aggressively on their own court and put the leaders in good shooting positions. The Kazan team had a 10:2 lead and got back into the game completely. On the court, Devon Akun-Purcell and Jalen Reynolds, the leaders of the vice-champion of the United League, stood out. In addition, Andrei Lopatin spoke at the right moment and realized the important “three rubles”. If the opening quarter was Zenit’s turn, in the second quarter UNICS showed an excellent performance: 30:20.
Kazan started the match better after a long break, but two quick counterattacks by Vince Hunter did not allow UNICS to further distance themselves from Zenit. The game did not lose pace, but the performance dropped. The teams carefully protected their baskets and did not allow easy goals in any situation. Javier Pascual tried several different combinations of players, but was unsuccessful. The club from the Neva bank lost the third ten minutes by 8:14.
The video can be viewed on the official VTB United League Telegram channel. The rights to the video belong to the VTB United League.
The match was getting heated up to the limit. Tony Taylor ran to the floor in search of balls, even though Moon was standing in front of him, who also went straight for the ball. The level of contact has increased. In short, competitive basketball is back! Zenit was silent for a long time, but in the last quarter Moon again took on the role of leader and made several shots in a row. The St. Petersburgers reduced the gap to “-4”, and then Trent Fraser faced the opponent one-on-one and hit the target with a difficult attempt with resistance. Today was Akun-Purcell’s night, who converted the important “two” with a foul and helped UNICS regain a comfortable lead over the blue and whites at the end of the match. Zenit was unable to come back, although they won the quarter by 18:16. A hard-working victory for the Kazan team by 78:72.
VTB United League Super Cup. Group B
September 13, 2024, Friday. 20:00 Moscow time
Zenith
Saint Petersburg
UNICS: Akun-Purcell – 24, Caballero – 12, Reynolds – 10, Bako – 9, D. Kulagin – 6, Toropov – 6, Taylor – 5, Lopatin – 5, Belenitsky – 1, Komolov, Ilyuk, Stulenkov
Zenit: Luna – 21, Poythress – 11, Spellman – 10, Bacon – 10, Hunter – 9, Fraser – 8, Zakharov – 3, Shcherbenev, Karasev, Ryzhov, Zhbanov, Vorontsevich
Akun-Purcell had an excellent game, scoring 24 points, five rebounds and two assists. In addition, the forward was useful in defense and in creating plays, and he also drew a lot of attention, which the whole team took full advantage of. Reynolds, as always, cemented the paint and did his job in the opponent’s court. A new superstar has appeared in Zenit’s lineup. We are talking about Moon, who played his second consecutive game at the highest level. As a result, the point guard scored 21 points. Alex Poythress also performed well, methodically doing his job on both ends of the court and finishing the game with 11 points and seven rebounds.
I would like to highlight the collective play of UNICS: they brilliantly moved the ball and found open opportunities for their stars. Perasovich gave the reins of the demonstration to Kulagin and Knight and we all see what came of it. There is a super sniper – Akun-Purcell, the best defenders – Reynolds, Knight, Taylor and Bako, as well as many other useful players who perform their functions at the highest level. UNICS so far looks very good, but Kazan has never won the Super Cup. Beating the one who took the main trophy last season would be nice, wouldn’t it? The ending should be great.
The most interesting events of the match:
United League Super Cup: Loko could not resist the Europeans, UNICS will fight CSKA in the final
