Top 16 Round 8 bwin MVP: Samardo Samuels, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan

From tipoff in the first game of Top 16 Round 8, Samardo Samuels of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan started to dominate. He scored 16 first-quarter points, added 11 more in the second and didn't stop until he had paced a much-needed 76-85 road win against Nizhny Novgorod and completed one of the best performances in Top 16 history. Behind his monster 36-point and 9-rebound outing, Samuels ran away with the bwin MVP honor for Top 16 Round 8. His performance index rating of 47 was not only the best in the competition all season, but tied for the third-best in Top 16 history. Samuels also set a record for the most two-pointers made in a Top 16 game, downing 14 of 16. He also made 8 of 11 free throws and drew 12 fouls. The second-best performance of the week came from a familiar face, Boban Marjanovic of Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade, who is this season's performance index rating leader. Marjanovic starred for his team again with a 35 index rating in an 85-61 loss at Real Madrid. He had 21 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks to rack up his fourth straight double-double. ALBA Berlin guard Alex Renfroe had a career-best outing in leading his team to overtime against FC Barcelona, although they ultimately fell short 92-82. Renfroe scored 20 points, dished 7 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds for an index rating of 30, third best for the week. Rounding out Top 16 Round 8's top performers were former MVP Vassilis Spanoulis of Olympiacos and Laboral Kutxa Vitoria center Colton Iverson. Spanoulis scored 18 points – including 10-for-10 free throw shooting – and dished 10 assists for a 26 index rating as the Reds beat Unicaja 77-72. Iverson led Laboral to an 84-87 road win against Anadolu Efes with 17 points and 11 rebounds for a 24 index rating.

Individual leaders: Marcus Slaughter of Real Madrid, 5 steals

Samuels was not only the top scorer of Top 16 Round 8, but his 36 points were the most in the league all season. Nizhny Novgorod's Taylor Rochestie remains the Turkish Airlines Euroleague's best scorer this season with 19.8 points per game and leads all Top 16 scorers with 19.6 points per game. Marjanovic and Nemanja Bjelica of Fenerbahce Ulker each corralled 13 rebounds, the most of the week. Marjanovic remains atop the charts for the 2014-15 season with an average of 10.1 rebounds, while Bjelica continues as the leading Top 16 rebounder at 10.5 per game. Spanoulis was the only player in Top 16 Round 8 to reach double-digit assists, with 10. There was no change among the assists leaders. CSKA Moscow's Milos Teodosic’s 7.1 assists per game are the most this season, while Rochestie 6.9 per game are most in the Top 16. Marcus Slaughter of Real Madrid played barely half of his game on Thursday, but still came away with the most steals of Top 16 Round 8 with 5. His teammate Rudy Fernandez and Nando De Colo of CSKA are each averaging 2 steals to lead the Top 16. David Logan of Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari, who averaged 2.3 steals per game in the regular season, is the full season leader. Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv forward Brian Randle and Marjanovic were the week's leaders with 3 blocks each. Nizhny center Art Parakhouski remains entrenched as the Euroleague’s shots blocked leader with 2.06 per game for the entire season and 2.5 in the Top 16. Six players recorded double-doubles in Top 16 Round 8: Marjanovic, Iverson, Spanoulis, Bjelica (11 points, 13 rebounds), Kerem Gonlum (13 points, 10 rebounds) of Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul and Nenad Krstic (16 points, 12 rebounds).