Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2-0) remains undefeated in the 2020-21 7DAYS EuroCup and won its two Top 16 games by double digits led by Vince Hunter (22.5 ppg., 10.0 rpg.), Marco Belinelli (22.0 ppg., 55.6% 3FG) and Milos Teodosic (17.0 ppg., 7.0 apg.). Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (1-1) is looking to bounce back from its Round 2 loss. Willie Reed (13.5 ppg., 76.5% 2FG), Nikola Ivanovic (11.0 ppg., 5.0 apg.) and Amedeo Della Valle (13.0 ppg.) have been its pillars in the Top 16. Expect a fun-to-watch game at Virtus Segafredo Arena.
Marquee matchup
For the first time in his career, Della Valle is set to play a game in his home country with a foreign team. Della Valle, who earned 2017-18 All-EuroCup First Team honors with Reggio Emilia, is a great scorer with deep shooting range and supreme ballhandling. He must use all of that against Belinelli, who has taken Virtus's offense to a new dimension with his outside shooting. Belinelli and Della Valle know each other well from the Italian national team and will be ready to show their best versions against each other.
History lesson
Both teams are set to face each other for the first time. It will be Virtus's first-ever game against a Montenegrin team. It will be Buducnost's 15th game on Italian soil. It is 5-9 in those games, but won its last three EuroCup games in the country, downing Dolomiti Energia Trento twice (105-106 in double overtime in 2018 and 69-76 in 2019) and beating Germani Brescia 66-75 earlier this season behind 18 points from Melvin Ejim.
Keys to victory: Virtus
Virtus is playing at a high rhythm on offense, which allows Coach Sasa Djordjevic's team to get its many scoring weapons involved. It is averaging 86.5 points this season and leading the EuroCup in assists (23.5 apg.). The Italian powerhouse is scoring even more (94.5 ppg.) since Belinelli arrived. If Stefan Markovic, Josh Adams and Teodosic are able to have Virtus play at the right rhythm while getting Julian Gamble and Hunter involved in the low post, it should be the heavy favorite to win this game.
Keys to victory: Buducnost
Buducnost set a club record by scoring 108 points against JL Bourg en Bresse, hitting 13 of 19 shots from downtown (68.4%) and 26 of 37 two-pointers (70.3%). It is hard to match those numbers, however, so Buducnost's defensive approach should be the key against a talented, high-scoring team like Virtus. Buducnost relies on Justin Cobbs and Ivanovic to guard Teodosic. Reed, Ejim and Danilo Nikolic are talented, experienced players who must power the boards to stop Virtus's transition game.