This week: The race for EuroCup glory continues

Glory is getting closer as we enter the BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals, with the four seeded teams hoping their extra week of rest and homecourt advantage pay off. Here's your guide to the games.

JL Bourg en Bresse vs. Prometey Slobozhanske

Group B winner Bourg welcomes a Prometey team that advanced to the last eight by impressively thrashing Aris Midea Thessaloniki 95-67 last week. The main man in that win was center Ondrey Balvin and the hosts will have to try to limit the effectiveness of the player who averaged 10.7 points and 9.1 rebounds this season. Bourg, which has only lost once at home all season, will base its game on an excellent defense that allowed just 76.4 points during the regular season, second-best in the league. Offensively, the host will look for three-point shooting from Zaccharie Risacher (56.1% for triples) and Hugo Benitez (42.9%), while Prometey's chief long-range weapon Issuf Sanan (40.4% from deep) may struggle against a Bourg perimeter defense that has allowed opponents to convert a league-low 29.2% of three-pointers.

U-BT Cluj-Napoca vs. London Lions

Fresh from last week's thumping home win over Turk Telekom, offensive powerhouse London will have plenty of confidence as it travels to face Cluj for the first-ever meeting between the teams. The English side will look for the usual dominance from big man Gabe Olaseni, who had 18 points and 8 rebounds last week, but he will face plenty of resistance from Emanuel Cate and Andrija Stipanovic. Cluj's most explosive player is DJ Seeley, who averaged 13.9 points in the regular season. But London also boasts plenty of backcourt power, with Matthew Morgan posting averages of 17.2 points and 4.1 assists per game. That helped the Lions become the third-highest scoring team in the competition during the regular season, with 90.8 points per game, and Cluj needs to prevent conceding extra possessions by improving its average of 15.3 turnovers per game.

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv vs. Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul

There will be a clash of styles as offensive powerhouse Hapoel takes on defensive specialist Besiktas. The teams met twice in the regular season, with Hapoel winning both en route to a second-place 13-5 record, while Besiktas finished sixth at 9-9. The most recent meeting was a thumping 73-94 win for Hapoel just one month ago, with 16 points from Will Cummings leading six players who scored at least 9 points, helping to show why the Israeli team boasted the competition's second-most potent offense with 96.1 points per game. Besiktas has earned its success this season through defense, allowing just 80.3 points per game, fourth-best in the EuroCup. And that strength was evident again last week when 14 points from Jonah Mathews helped pave the way to a 78-80 road win at deposed champion Gran Canaria, and the Turkish team will be looking to create another shock of similar proportions this week.

Paris Basketball vs. Joventut Badalona

Regular season standings leader Paris (17-1) will look to keep on rolling against a Joventut that stumbled into the postseason by losing its last three games to finish at 10-8. The Spanish team then regained its usual high level by advancing past Ulm with a 79-88 victory last week, powered by 28 points and 6 assists from dynamic guard Andres Feliz. A major highlight of this tussle will be the backcourt battle between Feliz and TJ Shorts, who ranked as the regular season's top performer with an average PIR of 22.6. The French team won both Group A meetings between the teams, most recently taking an 89-82 home win in January as 17 points from Nadir Hifi helped overcome 20 from Feliz. Joventut knows it faces a very tough task in matching an opposing offense that averages a competition-high 99.3 points per game, and will look to experienced stars like Ante Tomic and Pau Ribas to rise to the pressure of the occasion.