Through the first period and much of the second, Armani Jeans Milano was equal to hosts Tau Ceramica at every turn. Tau finally made its move just before halftime, taking a 55-46 lead into the break. Milano seemed poised to respond in the third quarter, however, especially when David Hawkins returned from foul trouble to feed Pape Sow for a slam and threw down a jam of his own on the break. The score was 66-57, and it looked like Milano's run had arrived - until Pablo Prigioni stepped in the way. On successive plays, Tau's savvy playmaker fed Will McDonald for a slam and then drilled a three-pointer. Then, after Milano called a timeout to settle things down, Prigioni stripped Luca Vitali and sailed in for a layup at 73-57. Those plays ignited a 14-2 run that put the game firmly in Tau's hands as it cruised to a big home win. GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

It’s hard not to notice the depth on the Olympiacos roster and head coach Panagiotis Giannakis exploited that advantage on Wednesday, particularly with his big men. The Reds brought wave after wave of big men into the paint to overpower Prokom en route to the win. Olympiacos shot 26 for 32 from the paint for the game and outrebounded the hosts 20-39. Olympiacos made its mark early as Nikola Vujcic scored 11 first-quarter points. Behind him came Ioannis Bourousis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis, and together the trio scored 28 points before intermission as the Reds built a 32-50 halftime advantage that would never be seriously threatened. GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

There was nervousness in the air at Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona after Alba Berlin scrapped its way to a 37-38 halftime lead in Group F on Thursday night. But if there were any Barcelona players who felt that way, they left it in the locker room - especially Ersan Ilyasova. Having made his first 3 three-pointers in the first half, Ilyasova came out in the second ready for more. After Gianluca Basile's free throws put Barcelona ahead 41-40, Ilyasova took over with 2 more triples among 8 points in what became a 17-0 blast that basically settled the game. Ilyasova was just as active on defense as on offense, joining double-teams, grabbing rebounds and blocking shots in a way that let Alba know that he and Barcelona were not letting their home court be sabotaged. By the time he sat down late in the quarter, to a standing ovation from the home fans, Barcelona was on its way to victory and Ilyasova to the Week 3 MVP honor. GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv had managed to stay in the game against Real Madrid throughout the third quarter through an outstanding Derrick Sharp, that totalled the same points on Thursday night - 9 - than the total of his previous 10 Euroleague games. A three-pointer by Sharp brought the guests within 55-51. Madrid had troubles in its next offense, as Pepe Sanchez through an impossible turnaround shot that hit nothing but air. Alex Mumbru, however, managed to grab the offensive board and turn it into a three-point play. Tomas Van den Spiegel soon hit a hook shot while once again Mumbru buried a three-pointer from way downtown to give Maccabi its first double-digit lead, 65-54, late in the third quarter. Maccabi never recovered and Madrid cruised to a pivotal win in this group. GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

The MVP of the previous week, Novica Velickovic, had a rough start when Partizan hosted Unicaja with second place on the line in Group G. Velickovic missed his first 7 shots before scoring late in the first half. He had several more misses and only 5 points total when Partizan faced a 49-51 deficit on its own court with under 5 minutes left. In the span of 60 seconds, however, Velickovic turned the game around. First, he backed down Carlos Jimenez and made a righhanded scoop shot to tie. Before Unicaja could even start the next play, Stephane Lasme popped the ball out of Boniface Ndong's hands for a steal that sent Velickovic on a fastbreak dunk. Finally, after another Unicaja miss, Velickovic backed down another defender before passing out to Uros Tripkovic for a triple to make it 56-51, just the cushion that Partizan needed to hold onto a 60-59 victory - on Velickovic's free throw with 5 seconds left - that is worth its weight in gold. GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Sometimes it takes just turning one matchup your way to take control of a game. Lottomatica Roma power forward Andre Hutson was quietly having a nice game with 9 first-half points and strong defense. Panathinaikos clearly took notice. After Hutson sank a jumper over Nikola Pekovic to bring his team within 48-43 early in the third period, the Greens went at him. Pekovic drew a pair of fouls from Hutson within seconds of each other on the ensuing possession, forcing him the bench with 3 fouls. And with Roma’s star big man out of the way, the coast was clear for Pekovic, Antonis Fotsis, Stratos Perperoglou and Vassilis Spanoulis to attack the paint at will. The result, Panathinaikos outscored Roma 18-4 the rest of the period to take a commanding lead and Hutson would not be a factor again. GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Montepaschi Siena, backed by an incredible crowd, used outstanding defense to hand CSKA an 18-point loss, its worse in European club competitions since 1999. CSKA stayed in the game for almost three quarters, when a three-pointer by J.R. Holden kept the reigning Euroleague champions within striking distance at 42-33. An exhausted Terrell McIntyre had just gone to the bench to a standing ovation from the Montepaschi fans. It was do-or-die time for CSKA when Montepaschi backup Morris Finley stepped on-court for the first time since early December. Just when it looked like CSKA could get back in the game, Finley showed why he could be Montepaschi's final puzzle piece. With his first shot in three months, Finley nailed a three-pointer. Soon, in the final seconds of the third quarter, he tacked on a fastbreak layup to break the game open, 53-37, after 30 minutes. CSKA never recovered. GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

The game in Zagreb had been a very defensive one, but the fourth quarter had been totally balanced. As many as 6 ties took place in the opening 4 minutes of this period, as both teams looked for a go-to guy to break the game open. FB Ulker knew exactly what to do, however, as few players rise up to the occasion better than Mirsad Turkcan, the Euroleague's all-time leading rebounder. A layup by Vedran Vukusic had tied the game at 53-53, but Turkcan had other ideas in find. He stepped up with back-to-back layups, then added his trademark turnaround jumper and soon struck from downtown to seal the outcome, 53-62. By the time he made free throws, Turkcan had scored all points in a game-breaking 0-11 run and FB Ulker had scored its first Top 16 win first season. GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS