A dominant individual performance in a big home win allowed Ante Zizic of Besiktas GAIN Istanbul to earn Round 9 MVP honors with a PIR of 36.
Zizic led Besiktas to a 101-83 home victory over Panionios Cosmorama Travel Athens with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-8 two-pointers and 6-of-9 free throws, 13 rebounds, 2 steals and 9 fouls drawn for a personal-best PIR of 36. Zizic earned MVP of the Round honors for the first time in his career, becoming the fifth Besiktas player to do so after Kaya Peker, Preston Shumpert, Mire Chatman (twice) and Angel Delgado, the last player to secure this individual award in the 2023-24 season.
Mitch Creek of U-BT Cluj-Napoca had a PIR of 35 in his team's 88-98 road win over Aris Thessaloniki Betsson. He had 27 points on 8-of-9 two-pointers, 1-of-4 three-pointers and 8-of-10 free throws, adding 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 7 fouls drawn.
Tarik Phillip of the London Lions reached a PIR of 32 in his team's 61-74 road victory over Lietkabelis Panevezys. Phillip finished the game with 15 points on 3-of-6 two-pointers, 1-of-4 three-pointers and 6-of-6 free throws, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal and 8 fouls drawn.
Both Gach of Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse, with a PIR of 30, and Giorgos Tsalmpouris of Panionios, who reached a PIR of 29, complete the top individual performances in Round 9. Gach posted 22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 fouls drawn in Bourg’s 88-73 win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, while Tsalmpouris had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 fouls drawn as Panionios lost to Besiktas.
Individual highs: Balsa Koprivica, Besiktas, 6 blocks
Mitch Creek of Cluj was this round's top scorer with 27 points. His teammate Fatts Russell is the competition's top scorer with 22.0 points per game.
Ante Zizic of Besiktas led all rebounders by pulling down 13 in Round 9. Zacharie Perrin of Veolia Towers Hamburg ranks first overall with 8.2 rebounds per night.
Hugo Benitez of BAXI Manresa was the only player to reach double digits in assists in Round 9, dishing 10. Arnas Velicka of Neptunas Klaipeda ranks first in assists with 8.0 per night.
As many as nine players collected 3 steals apiece in this round: Fatts Russell of Cluj, Jonah Mathews of Besiktas, Juwan Morgan of Buducnost, Michael Devoe of Turk Telekom Ankara, Cassius Winston of Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem, Kadre Gray of Slask Wroclaw, Miha Cerkvenik of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, Malachi Flynn of Bahcesehir College Istanbul, and Jordan Parks of Umana Reyer Venice. Dogus Ozdemiroglu of Turk Telekom remains atop the steals' standings with 2.7 per game.
Balsa Koprivica of Besiktas had 6 blocks, the most of any player. It is a new season high and the most since Kyle Alexander of Turk Telekom also had 6 blocks in a 74-80 road victory against Cedevita Olimpija on December 18, 2024. Koprivica is also first overall with 1.8 blocks per night.
Tarik Phillip (15 points, 12 rebounds), Ante Zizic (18 points, 13 rebounds), Hugo Benitez (17 points, 10 assists) and his Manresa teammate Alex Reyes (13 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded a double-double in this round.