UCLA is holding firm at No. 14 in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 rankings, and honestly, it is all thanks to one unbelievable freshman. Nikola Kusturica, just 17 years old, put on an absolute clinic late Friday, dropping a dazzling 29 points in the Bruins’ 114-63 blowout win over North Florida. Seriously, if you missed it, you missed a show.
Nikola Kusturica’s Unstoppable Night
The kid is a former EuroLeague NextGen champion, and he played like it. Kusturica took 12 shots against North Florida, sinking 10 of them. He finished the game with 29 points, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks, one steal, and zero turnovers in just 23 minutes on the court. Zero turnovers! For a freshman with the ball in his hands that much? That is unheard of. In the first half alone, during an insane 35-0 run by the Bruins, Kusturica went off for 26 points on 9-of-9 shooting, including a perfect 4 of 4 from beyond the arc. UCLA coach Mick Cronin could not help but grin after the game, saying, “It’s recruiting, buddy. It’s recruiting. … He’s a great player. A great player. Not a good player. He’s a great player because he does everything on the court.”
A Talent Beyond His Years
Kusturica is so young he is not even age-eligible for the 2027 NBA Draft, which is exactly why he signed a multi-year deal with the Big Ten school this past July. This Serbian phenom is already averaging 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals in 31.0 minutes per game this season, all while shooting 56.5% from the field. He is projected as a top-three pick in the 2028 NBA Draft, right alongside Duke’s Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje and Texas’ Marcus Spears Jr. No wonder the Bruins are still sitting comfortably at No. 14 in the rankings.
Up next, UCLA plays Arkansas Pine Bluff on Wednesday. But mark your calendars, because the Bruins are expected to meet No. 6 ranked Texas in the championship game of the Rady Children’s Invitational the day after Thanksgiving. That is when we will really see this squad, and Kusturica, tested.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
Leave a Reply