«Astana» Astana, Kazakhstan vs. UNICS Kazan, Russia

UNICS outgunned Astana on Sunday evening, securing a 103-90 road victory. The visitors took control in the 1st quarter and never trailed again, keeping Astana at a comfortable distance of 8-10 points most of the contest. UNICS improves to 2-1 with the win, while Astana is now 0-2.

Recap
Astana lost by 33 points in Krasnodar last weekend and couldn't afford a repeat performance in the first home game of the season. UNICS, meanwhile, was coming off a win against Nymburk and hoped to make it two straight victories.

Astana enjoyed an early lead, but Keith Langford and the Kazan offense gradually took over. The American guard was equally effective scoring and distributing the ball, helping his club to a double-digit advantage in the first half. If not for Nik Caner-Medley and Kenny Hayes, who helped cut the deficit to five at halftime, Astana could have been trailed by even more.

Astana kept battling in the second half, but simply had no answer for Langford and Co. Evgeny Pashutin's club finished the game 35-56 inside the arc and 8-19 from the perimeter, 57% overall from the field. Four players scored 15 or more points for the visitors, who also dished out 27 team assists and forced 17 Astana turnovers.

In the end, despite a solid night on offense for the home team, UNICS coasted to a 103-90 victory, cracking the centure mark for the first time this season.

Star of the Game
Keith Langford. He was unstoppable both scoring and passing. Langford finished with 29 points and 12 assists to go with four steals and a phenomenal efficiency rating of 39.

Stat of the Game
103. UNICS has scored more than 103 points in a VTB United League game only twice before.

Quotes
Astana head coach Ramunas Butautas:
- Congratulations to our opponent. We played against a high-quality team with an excellent coach. We battled and fought from the opening tip and put pressure on Kazan. During the first half, we even had the momentum at times. We were too excited, though, and made mistakes that our opponent was able to exploit.

We took a big step forward compared to our first game. I believe in my team. I know that everything is still ahead for us.

UNICS head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
- The guys were very motivated for the game today. They played solid defense and stayed focused for all 40 minutes. Astana played aggressive quick basketball at home. It's always tough to play against. We're still far from our best, but we executed our game plan.

Stats