UCLA Basketball: Surprise Bruin Named Pac-12 Freshman Of The Week After Maui Invitational Run

Your UCLA Bruins men's basketball program introduced a whopping eight (!) new players this season -- seven freshman plus junior transfer wing Lazar Stefanovic out of Utah. Two international frontcourt studs, 7'3" center Aday Mara and 6'9" forward Berke Buyuktuncel, were expected to be the most exciting NBA prospects and present-day players heading into 2023-24.

Instead, so far at least, four-star combo guard Sebastian Mack has emerged as a surprise standout. Thanks in no small part to his terrific turn in Honolulu during the Maui Invitational this past weekend, he has been named the Pac-12 Freshman Of The Week, per Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times.

As Bolch writes, the 6'3" Chicago native's 15.8 points per contest (on .424/.286/.833 shooting splits) leads UCLA. He's also averaging 4.7 boards, 2.2 steals and 1.7 assists (against 2.8 turnovers) per bout. Across three Maui Invitational matchups, Mack averaged 19 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals, and 2.3 assists.

Next up for Mack and the rest of your 4-2 Bruins is a date with 3-4 UC Riverside, which is currently slated for Thursday night at 8 p.m. PT. 

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