Fenerbahce Istanbul center Ekpe Udoh showed last season that he is a big-game player and he proved that again on Friday in the first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague derby between his team and Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul.
Udoh starred by tying his EuroLeague best with 21 points and setting a career-high with 13 rebounds to lead Fenerbahce to an 87-103 road win and claim the honor of MVP for Round 4. Udoh’s performance index rating of 31 was the highest of any player on a winning team for Round 4. Udoh made 8 of 12 two-point shots, collected 6 offensive rebounds and added 2 assists and 1 steal in an impressive effort.
The highest index rating not only of Round 4, but of the season so far came from Keith Langford of Unics Kazan, who recorded a 40 in his team’s 98-80 loss at CSKA Moscow. Langford scored a career-high 36 points on 5-of-10 three-point shooting and drew 13 fouls.
Udoh’s teammate Kostas Sloukas was next on the list of Round 4 stars with 24 points and 7 assists for a performance index rating of 27. Sloukas was 4 for 4 from downtown as he set personal bests in both scoring and index rating. Ognjen Kuzmic of Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade also posted an index of 27 in his team’s 70-59 loss at Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens. Kuzmic totaled 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 15 rebounds for his first career double-double and a new career high in index rating. Completing the top performances of the round was Anthony Randolph of Real Madrid, who came up big in Los Blancos’ 90-101 road win at EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. Randolph dominated inside to the tune of 20 points and 14 rebounds for an index rating of 26.
