LOS ANGELES – Freshman forward Nikola Kusturica stepped onto the court of Pauley Pavilion for the first time Monday night and gave the Bruins faithful their newest hero.
The Serbian sensation wasted no time introducing himself with a display of near-otherworldly dominance that left the crowd and his No. 22 UCLA (2-0) teammates amazed, the UNF Ospreys exhausted and head coach Mick Cronin pleased.
“Obviously, Nikola got hot offensively, which probably rattled them [UNF]. I know it would rattle me if I was watching it,” Cronin said. “That’s really the story today. That time was coming for him.”
Kusturica was everywhere on the floor. In the first half alone, he went a perfect 9- from the field, 4-4 from three point range and 4-4 from the free throw line to rack up 26 points. If that wasn’t enough, Kusturica added five rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the first half to punctuate one of the most dominate in-game stretches of Bruin basketball in recent memory…