After No. 9 UCLA opened more eyes during the opening week of the season, the Bruins will take higher expectations into the second game of a five-game homestand on Wednesday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Los Angeles.
The Bruins (2-0) made the largest leap of any team in the first regular-season Associated Press Top 25 poll. They jumped 13 spots after their 2-0 opening week, which included an 84-75 win over 2026 Final Four participant Arizona on Nov. 2.
UCLA followed up with a 114-63 blowout of North Florida on Friday in the Bruins’ 2026-27 home opener. A 35-0 run spanning almost the entire final nine minutes of the first half powered UCLA. Standout freshman wing Nikola Kusturica scored 29 points on 10-of-12 shooting.
“He’s a great player,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said of his 17-year-old talent from Serbia. “Not a good player, a great player because he does everything on the court.”
Cronin pointed to Kusturica going without a turnover in Friday’s win — his second game in as many collegiate appearances without a giveaway.
While the rout of North Florida showed off Kusturica’s scoring chops, including a 4 of 6 mark from 3-point range, he also has contributed defensively with five blocked shots and three steals over the opening two games.
Kusturica and blue-chip recruit Joe Philon III are both early-season factors in a UCLA lineup that features a variety of established veterans. The Bruins returned Eric Dailey Jr. and Trent Perry, who were key figures in UCLA’s 2025-26 NCAA Tournament team.
Kusturica credited the upperclassmen, who also include Xavier Booker and Brandon Williams, for his smooth transition into his college career.
“When I came here, I was struggling a lot, just adjusting to the college game,” Kusturica said. “Eric especially helped me a lot (to) overcome the things that I was facing.”
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-2) is set to play the third date on an 11-game odyssey away from home. The Golden Lions do not play their first home game until Dec. 16.
Wednesday’s contest is the first of three consecutive in the Los Angeles area for UAPB, which faces Cal Baptist in Riverside on Friday and Southern California in L.A. on Sunday.
The Lions are looking to build off the 2025-26 season when they finished above .500 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play for the first time in seven seasons.
UAPB went 10-8 in the SWAC a year ago, and its 13 overall wins matched its high under coach Solomon Bozeman, who is now in his sixth season with the program.
The Lions were picked 11th in the 12-team SWAC preseason poll, but they feature one of the conference’s top players in Jalen Tatum. The cross-conference transfer arrived from Jackson State in the SWAC’s West division.
Though his 2025-26 season was interrupted by injury, he made a late-season impression with an 18-point, four-steal performance in the SWAC Tournament. Tatum opened this season with 16 points against Arkansas and an 11-point, three-steal outing vs. Baylor.
“We’ve been able to bring in some really good talent,” Bozeman said.
Tatum is the most recent addition in the Lions’ pursuit of a first NCAA Tournament berth in 16 years.
“Our basketball players, they helped turn the program around,” Bozeman said.
–Field Level Media
