UCLA
0-0,0-0Pac-12
Cal State Dominguez Hills (exhibition)
0-0,0-0CCAA
No. 25 Men's Basketball Wins Exhibition Game, 97-56
October 31, 2023 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ Freshman Sebastian Mack scored a team-leading 23 points and added seven assists as the No. 25 UCLA men's basketball team cruised past Cal State Dominguez Hills, 97-56, in an exhibition game in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Tuesday.
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Mack finished the exhibition contest as one of six Bruins to have scored at least 10 points.
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Lazar Stefanovic, a junior from Belgrade, Serbia, totaled 19 points and connected on 6 of 7 shot attempts. Fifth-year senior Kenneth Nwuba and freshman Devin Williams each had 13 points, and freshman Jan Vide totaled 12 points.
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Freshman Ilane Fibleuil rounded out the Bruins' list of double-figure scorers with 10 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.
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"My job is to make sure their mind is on the things we need them to be on, so we can become who we want to become," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "And their mind was on the right stuff [tonight]. Now, we have eight new guys that never realized we practice on game day. I don't know if you've ever seen us โ we don't have shootaround, we have practice. And you see the results of a team that was ready today because of our preparation today in practice."
Postgame Press Conference: Coach Cronin | S. Mack, J. Vide, L. Stefanovic
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Other than an early 3-0 deficit, the Bruins led throughout the contest, building their cushion to as many as 10 points in the game's first six minutes. Mack scored 14 of this team-high 23 points in the first half and connected on three of the Bruins' first five baskets. He finished the game having made 9 of 14 shots from the field and sank 2 of 4 attempts from 3-point distance.
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UCLA pushed ahead by a 23-11 margin with 12:04 to play in the opening half. The Bruins received field goals from six players in the opening 20 minutes.
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Cal State Dominguez Hills reduced UCLA's early cushion to just eight points โ 31-23 with 5:45 to play in the first half โ before the Bruins closed the final five-plus minutes on a 15-5 scoring run.
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UCLA led at halftime, 46-28, and the Bruins' victory was never in doubt during Tuesday evening's second half. The Bruins opened the second half scoring the first five points โ on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Nwuba and a pair of free throws by Stefanovic โ to lead 51-28.
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Playing in Pauley Pavilion for the first time in nearly eight months, UCLA led by as many as 42 points with 1:59 to play. The Bruins finished the exhibition contest having shot 58.9 percent from the field and nailed 6 of 16 attempts from 3-point distance.
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DJ Guest and Jeremy Dent-Smith led Cal State Dominguez Hills with 10 points each.
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UCLA will open its regular-season schedule on Monday night (Nov. 6), hosting Saint Francis University in Pauley Pavilion at 8:30 p.m. The Bruins' game will take place as part of a women's and men's basketball doubleheader. The UCLA women's basketball team hosts Purdue that evening at 5:30 p.m., prior to the men's basketball game.
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UCLA's contest next Monday will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network, with Ted Robinson and Bill Walton in the Bruins' home arena on the broadcast call.
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Game Notes: UCLA's starters on Tuesday included Sebastian Mack, Will McClendon, Lazar Stefanovic, Ilane Fibleuil and Kenneth Nwuba โฆ in all, 12 Bruins saw action in the game against Cal State Dominguez Hills โฆ six UCLA players saw action on the court in a Bruins' jersey for the first time in their collegiate careers (five true freshmen and junior Lazar Stefanovic) โฆ UCLA totaled eight steals and blocked 10 shots โฆ Cal State Dominguez Hills didn't record any blocks โฆ the Bruins' upcoming three-game homestand includes games on Monday, Nov. 6 against Saint Francis, plus contests against Lafayette (Nov. 10) and Long Island University (Nov. 15).
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