Led by Transfer Stefanovic, UCLA Wins Second Game on European Trip

Lazar Stefanovic has the look of a guy on the verge of a breakout campaign...

UCLA played the second of its scheduled three contests on Thursday evening in Valencia, Spain.

Squaring off with Valencia Basket's junior team, the Bruins came away with a 85-66 victory. Among the more notable performances, Utah transfer Lazar Stefanovic led the way with a team-high 23 points. He was joined in the double-figures column points-wise by Dylan Andrews (10), Ilane Fibleuil (10), Sebastian Mack (17), and Kenneth Nwuba (15). 

𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋: UCLA 85, L’Horta Godella (Valencia) 66

𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬
L. Stefanovic: 23 pts
S. Mack: 17 pts
K. Nwuba: 15 pts#GoBruins 🏀 pic.twitter.com/HGpNLQRg8u

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) August 24, 2023

In game one of the trip, UCLA was also buoyed by the tandem of Mack (17 points) and Stefanovic (14 points, 13 rebounds). In speaking with a UCLA reporter on the ground in Spain, Head Coach Mick Cronin had this to say about the win on Thursday night: 

"I thought that [Thursday] was more like a real game, as we played Valencia Basket's junior team, their second team. They've got a lot of good young players who have played with Aday Mara on the Spanish national team. Jan Vide knew a lot of their players. They're very well-coached."

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Mick Cronin

on Thursday's win

Though it's early and we can only take so much from the exhibition season, Stefanovic certainly has been a surprise so far. The junior wing came to UCLA via the transfer portal. At his previous stop, Stefanovic was more of a role player. We could still see him in that capacity as a floor-spacer in Westwood -- though he's appeared to take on a real leadership role for the baby Bruins. 

From what I’m hearing, Stefanovic is really stepping up as the vocal leader on this team. A calming presence. We could be looking back on his under-the-radar transferring in being a much bigger story than anyone would’ve imagined #UCLA

— Jason Fray (@jasonfrayLA) August 24, 2023

Mack is another player who's seemingly played beyond his years. The true freshman out of Las Vegas is making a real case to be the starting shooting guard next to returning PG Dylan Andrews. In the exhibition contests thus far, he's been quite aggressive in attacking the rim. 

Some clips from todays game from Valencia, España 🇪🇸 #UCLA #uclabasketball #gobruins 🐻 @latbbolch @JHWreporter @jasonfrayLA @JonRothstein pic.twitter.com/Z3gpdH9tLq

— 12th Bruin (@12thbruin) August 24, 2023

UCLA has one more contest scheduled on the trip before heading back home. They'll square off with Girona CB on Aug. 29 in Girona, Spain. From there, Cronin will eagerly await the arrival of Aday Mara and Berke Buyuktuncel (both expected on campus by early September). 

Cronin also offered these last remarks from the game: 

"The game was excellent for us, and we showed a lot of progress from game one to game two. That's what you are looking for. Now obviously, we aren't practicing in-between games -- we are sightseeing. But there was a lot of progress. I thought our guys looked a lot more comfortable playing together. That is going to be a big theme for us all season, to adjust, learn, get more comfortable together, learn how to win together. There were a lot of positives."

- Cronin

on the win