UCLA
2-0,0-0Pac-12
Lafayette
0-2,0-0Patriot
No. 25 UCLA Men's Basketball Outlasts Lafayette, 68-50
November 10, 2023 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 25-ranked UCLA men's basketball team used a 27-2 scoring run through the final 14 minutes of the second half to defeat Lafayette, 68-50, in a nonconference game on Friday in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
UCLA (2-0) trailed Lafayette, 43-34, with 15:15 to play in the second half. Down by a 45-41 margin at the 13:17 mark, the Bruins held Lafayette (0-2) scoreless over the next 11-plus minutes. UCLA's lead swelled to 68-47 in the game's final minute.
Sophomore Dylan Andrews and freshman Sebastian Mack scored a team-leading 18 points each for UCLA. Junior Lazar Stefanovic finished with 11 points, four rebounds and four steals.
Lafayette finished with two players scoring in double figures – senior Eric Sondberg with 11 points and senior Kyle Jenkins with 10 points.
UCLA trailed Lafayette at halftime, 33-30. The Bruins shot just 34.6 percent from the field in the first half. However, UCLA's strong second-half run and stingy defense resulted in Lafayette shooting 24.0 percent after halftime (6-for-25).
"I knew we should have probably started small and just switched everything," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "But I didn't think we'd get anything out of that. Now you're going to say you're absolutely nuts – you could have lost. Maybe I am. I'm sure there's a lot of people that would agree with you, that I'm crazy. But I just thought we needed to try to be able to defend them with a bigger lineup. We're not going to play many teams where the five spends all his time at the three-point line. I just thought we needed to try it."
Friday's Postgame Press Conference: Coach Cronin | L. Stefanovic, S. Mack, D. Andrews
Trailing 45-41, UCLA took advantage of a post-move basket from Kenneth Nwuba at the 12:12 mark and a pull-up jumper from Stefanovic with 11:37 to go, tying the game at 45-45. UCLA secured its first lead of the game on a pair of free throws from Mack at the 10:54 mark in the second half.
The Bruins continued their scoring run with two more free throws made by Mack, followed one minute later by a 3-pointer from Andrews. Three minutes later, Mack nailed a pull-up jumper to propel the Bruins ahead, 54-45, with 6:37 to play.
UCLA's second-half cushion grew to as many as 21 points in the last minute. Ilane Fibleuil converted in thrilling fashion with an and-one opportunity, hitting a layup with contact (and sinking the ensuing free throw) on the fast-break to put the Bruins on top, 68-47.
"They were going under and just giving us a shot," Coach Cronin said after the win. "And we were taking the bait, and we weren't getting the ball to the second side. It's a growth process with this team. We were just taking the bait. I know we were open, but their coaching staff – it was a smart move – they said we are just going to give that up, so they're going to take open jump shots. But they're not going to get a rebound because they're not going to move us. So we're going to expend no energy defensively. They're going to throw one or two passes, we're going to go under and let them shoot. We're going to spend all of our energy back-cutting, passing, wheeling, and they're spending all their energy trying to break us down on the offensive end. But defense, let's just go back, pack it in, go under, let them shoot and box out. You get no rebounds when you don't move the ball."
The Bruins will close their season-opening three-game homestand against Long Island University on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Game time in Pauley Pavilion is set for 7 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game against Long Island University will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
