MBA-MAI — CSKA, 15 January 2025

CSKA days for MBA-MAI

It is curious that the meeting with Vasily Karasev's team on December 15 was CSKA's last home game before the away series. After that meeting, MBA-MAI lost to favorites Lokomotiv and UNICS, failed to cope with Uralmash, but after the New Year, they won against Pari NN and Samara.

In turn, for the hosts of Basket Hall, the Red-Blues are the most frequent opponents in January. They have already beat CSKA-2 in the first game of the quarterfinals of the Russian Cup, having got a difficult victory over Anton Yudin's team (54-62), and will play the return game at home on January 22.

Veteran Andrei Zubkov continues to shine in a leadership role after a stint on the Zenit bench. He is currently fifth in the VTB League in efficiency (19.0), ninth in scoring (15.1) and second in rebounds (7.4). He is followed by CSKA youth team graduate Makar Konovalov (12.6 points, 5.3 assists – fourth in the tournament) and another experienced forward Vladislav Trushkin (9.2 points, 4.0 rebounds).

Maintain the rhythm

After the December defeat to Lokomotiv-Kuban, the Red-Blues gained momentum, delivering three routs in a row (+42.7 on average per game). There is only one loss: Nikita Mikhailovskii still wears a brace on his broken wrist and practices individually. The rest of the team managed to hold two training sessions in Krylatskoye – one in their training gym and one at the main arena on Tuesday afternoon.

“Our series of away games continues, and we have been showing good basketball lately,” said CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. “Our next opponent gave us a fight in previous games. It is always dangerous when the team that comes out against you plays as if they have nothing to lose. That is why we need to maintain the same quality and rhythm that we have been showing lately.”

Past matchups

Win/loss ratio: 8-0

Games of the 2024-25 season:

11/06/2024. MBA-MAI – CSKA: 67-83 (+16)
12/15/2024. CSKA – MBA-MAI: 84-67 (+17)

Brief dossier

MBA-MAI Moscow

Founded: 2011
Colors: white, red
Home arena: Basket Hall Moscow (5,000 spectators)
President: Tatyana Kocharyan
Head coach: Vasily Karasev
Website: mbabasket.pro
Trophy case: 2014 Russian Major League runners-up