Eurocup Eighthfinals, Game 1 MVP: Victor Rudd, Nizhny Novgorod

The Eighthfinals started with a bang this week with half the games being won by visitors. It was not the case, however, of Nizhny Novgorod, who managed to thrash Zenit St. Petersburg at home to gain a 26-point advantage for Game 2 next week. The main contributor in Nizhny Novgorod's win was Victor Rudd, who earned weekly MVP honors thanks to his index rating performance of 32, the highest among all winning players this week. Rudd netted 28 points - including 5 of 8 threes -, pulled 8 rebounds, dished 4 assists, had 1 steal and drew 4 fouls for a great all-around performance. The game marked personal bests for Rudd in three categories: index rating, points and offensive rebounds (2). Errick McCollum of Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul also racked up a 32 index rating, but he was not eligible for the accolade because of his team losing. Completing the best individual performances of the week, Jordan Taylor led ALBA Berlin with a 31 index rating performance and he was followed by Colton Iverson of Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir with a 30.

Individual highs: Rebounds career high for Janis Timma, 17

Rudd was the best scorer of the week thanks to his 28 points. After him, Elmedin Kikanovic of ALBA Berlin and Rickey Paulding of EWE Baskets Oldenburg followed suit with 24 points apiece. Janis Timma of Zenit led the rebounders of the week with a career-high 17 boards (13 defensive and 4 offensive, both also career records for him). Quino Colom, a familiar face in the weekly top spots that had been missing the last few weeks, returned to the spotlight with his 11 assists, the most this week. In the defensive end, Taylor had as many as 5 steals while three players had as many blocks each this week: Semen Antonov of Nizhny Novgorod and two players from Galatasaray: McCollum and Stephane Lasme.