BCL Matchday 2 Preview: Bilbao and UCAM Murcia Chase 2-0 Start

All four Spanish teams opened the Basketball Champions League with perfect records, and two of them have the chance to go 2-0 this week. Matchday 2 is split into two rounds: Surne Bilbao and UCAM Murcia take the court now, while Asisa Joventut and Unicaja will play next week.

Miribilla opens its European season

Surne Bilbao hosts Slavia Prague on Tuesday (20:00) in their first home game of the European campaign. The Bilbao side arrives in good form. They won on the road at Igokea in Laktaši (79-92) in their return to competition and on Sunday sealed a 85-85 tie against Recoletas Salud San Pablo Burgos with an 11-2 run with three minutes remaining. Additionally, they get back Tryggvi Hlinason: the Icelandic center missed the European opener due to a severe head injury, but already played on Sunday.

They face a debutant. Slavia Prague was born this summer from the merger of two Czech clubs and is playing the BCL for the first time. Their standout player is Vojtech Hruban, one of the competition's most recognized players. For Bilbao, champions of the last two FIBA Europe Cups, this is the type of game they cannot afford to drop in a group that also includes ALBA Berlin.

Read also:

• BCL Matchday 1: Perfect record for all four Spanish teams
• Bilbao returns to BCL with win in Laktaši (79-92)
• UCAM Murcia dominates Varese in European debut (85-58)

UCAM Murcia, dealing with injuries

UCAM Murcia travels to Bamberg on Wednesday (20:00) with troubling news. Their European debut was a defensive masterclass against Varese (85-58), but on Sunday they lost at home to La Laguna Tenerife (77-90) and, more importantly, saw Juani Marcos leave the court with discomfort after just six minutes. The Argentine point guard, who had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists against Varese, is questionable, and Souley Boum remains sidelined. Without them, the burden of perimeter play falls even more on Dylan Ennis, who scored 16 points in the first game.

Bamberg allowed 93 points in their European opener and still haven't won at home this season, but they have a dangerous weapon: they made 14 of 30 three-pointers in their first game. Richard Balint, Yuval Hochstadter and Jordan Wright are their main scorers. Sito Alonso's team will need to replicate the defensive intensity that suffocated Varese if they want to return from Germany with a 2-0 record.

Joventut and Unicaja, next week

Asisa Joventut, who won their opener against Bnei Herzliya (86-75), will use the week to play their postponed Liga Endesa game against MoraBanc Andorra on Wednesday. They will host Telekom Baskets Bonn on Wednesday the 21st in BCL Matchday 2. Unicaja, who dominated in Utena (69-105) with Willy Hernangómez posting a 32 efficiency rating, will visit Pardubice on Tuesday the 20th.

Spanish teams' games in BCL Matchday 2