Olimpia is going to play in Udine tomorrow, at the sports hall named after legendary heavyweight Primo Carnera, its 63rd game of the season. Under Coach Peppe Poeta, Olimpia has virtually completed a full half season: this is his 15th game as a head coach in Milan (11-3 is the record, so far), in addition to three wins in the Italian Cup Final Eight. In terms of the standings, it is obviously a must-win game to keep pace with the best teams and try to climb even higher in the standings. It is not an easy one though, against a team that has lost eight times by five points or less. Moreover, in Milan, Olimpia—who prevailed with a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Brooks—had already had the opportunity to deal with the solidity, defense, and rebounding of the team coached by Adriano Vertemati, who faced Milan in the 2021 EuroLeague playoffs when he was an assistant under Andrea Trinchieri at Bayern Munich. The 2010-born Mattia Sguazzin, a native of Udine, will make his first-team debut with Olimpia, and will therefore take to the court in front of his own people. Ousmane Diop is another player with a strong Udine connection because he played in the second division on this very same team.

APU Udine-EA7 Emporio Armani Milano is going to be played on March 29, 2026, in Udine at 18:00.

COACH EMILIO KOVACIC – “Udine is a well coached team and they had a lot of time to prepare for this game. Therefore, we expect a challenging duel, where we have to bring the best of our ability in order to bring home a victory.”

UDINE OUTLOOK – After a slow start, with one win in eight, Udine has turned the tide and climbed the standings. Now at 8-13, they’re one game away from a playoff spot, despite several losses coming at the last possession or near the end, including the previous game in Milan. The point guard is the highly experienced Semaj Christon, a guard who has played for six different teams in six seasons in Italy. Signed mid-season, he has turned the team around. He’s currently averaging 14.2 points and 5.6 assists per game. He’s not a three-point shooter, but he’s deadly from mid-range. Alongside him is Anthony Hickey, returning after a period out, who is averaging top-notch numbers: 15.2 points, 5.6 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game, as well as a 42.1 percent three-point shooting accuracy. The third foreign player on the perimeter is Aubrey Dawkins, averaging 7.8 points per game and 42.6 percent three-point shooting. In the last round, against Venezia, he scored 19 points in 19 minutes. The rotation of five perimeter players is completed by Andrea Calzavara and Mirza Alibegovic. The former, from Gallarate, Lombardy, is one of Italy’s emerging players, averaging 8.1 points and 3.1 assists in 19.1 minutes per game off the bench. Alibegovic, on the other hand, is a starter and is responding with 13.5 points per game, 2.3 assists, and 2.9 rebounds. Alibegovic, who was a key player in the first leg (he hit the three-pointer that answered Zach LeDay’s one, but it was erased by Armoni Brooks’s eventual heroism), is attempting eight three-pointers per game while converting them at a 37.7 percent rate. The power forward is Lithuanian veteran Eimantas Bendzius, formerly of Sassari, an exceptional shooter averaging 11.3 points and 4.4 rebounds, per game. He is shooting 42.9 percent on threes. Forward Iris Ikangi is another physical, solid defender who shoots three-pointers and helps with rebounding (he is averaging 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds a game). Center Christian Mekowulu (9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game), a top-notch offensive rebounder and a veteran of the Italian league (Sassari, Treviso), is a vertical leaper who is shooting 64.2 percent from two. The back-ip is another veteran and intimidating player, Skylar Spencer, averaging 4.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, another effective offensive rebounder who can finish at the rim. The rotation is completed by Matteo Da Ros, another player raised in the Milan area who is averaging 3.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

LAST TIME Vs UDINE – The last time, Olimpia faced Udine the game became one to remember. Down by two before the supposed to be last possession with 14 seconds left, Olimpia called a time-out and put the ball on Zach LeDay’s hands. He made the corner three that gave Olimpia the lead with seven seconds remaining. Udine didn’t have any time-out to call, so Mirza Alibegovic ran the length of the floor, went right to the corner and shot an impossible no-look jumper with Pippo Ricci all over him. He made it. However, Coach Poeta had one last time-out to use and he did with two seconds left. The ball went to Armoni Brooks in the corner. He attempted a turn-around jump shot that was all but net. It was finally the winning shot.