The Slovenian national team is competing for a place in the quarter-finals of the European Championship against Italy. The match started at 17:30.

Slovenia has only failed to reach the quarterfinals once in the last nine European championships, or in the last 22 years, at the 2015 EuroBasket in Zagreb and Lille, and Italy is, as the Slovenian basketball players in Riga emphasize, a suitable competitor to extend their winning streak at this tournament.

Slovenia came to Latvia as the third team from Katowice after three wins against Belgium, Iceland and Israel, while Italy moved north from Cyprus with a four-game winning streak. They only lost their opening match against Greece in Limassol.

Slovenia has never lost to Italy at the European Championships. They have won all three matches, in 2013 in Stožice, 2007 in Alicante and 2003 in Luleå.

The Slovenians made mistakes in the long-range shot, but at the same time played very well in defense.  Luka Dončić recorded two steals in the first minute, but then missed three points twice. After Italy led 4:0, the Slovenians woke up and took control of the game with a partial score of 15:0.

The Italians didn't have the right idea in attack, and in defence they couldn't find an answer to Dončić's play, which was completely unhinged. Alen Omić, Marin Krampelj and Gregor Horvat also contributed.

Slovenia led by 16 and later by 18 points, which was the lead after the opening ten minutes of the game, thanks to their star player. Dončić finished the first quarter with 22 points, and the Slovenians put up 29 points against the best defense in the championship.

The Italians pressed at the beginning of the second quarter and went from -18 to -12, so coach Aleksander Sekulić called for the first minute of timeout. Dončić continued his shooting show after returning to the court, until

EuroBasket 2025, 1/8 finals:

Slovenia - Italy 45:34* (29:11, -:-, -:-)