As schedule toughens, UCLA needs Dylan Andrews to reemerge as a top playmaker
With every jump shot that fell through the net, a flurry of nine points in less than 2½ minutes last week, Dylan Andrews provided a reminder of the player he’s been and the one he’d like to be again.
You remember the UCLA point guard from late last season, right? Driving past anyone who dared to try and stand between him and the basket. Pulling up for feathery jumpers. Almost single-handedly lugging his team on a six-game winning streak.
There’s only been glimpses of that player over the season’s first month. A groin injury that sidelined the junior for two games certainly didn’t help, but it seems as if he hasn’t been nearly as much on the attack as he was last February and March.
The statistics tell the story.
Andrews is averaging 8.0 points and 3.8 assists on 48.6% shooting, including 31.6% on three-pointers. That’s a long way from the production of his final 14 games last season, when he averaged a team-leading 17.1 points while making 40.8% of his three-pointers.
Dominating in every facet, UCLA displayed plenty of life during a rout of Southern Utah that was also its fifth straight win.
He provided a hint of that efficiency last week with his barrage of points early in the second half against Southern Utah, including three midrange jumpers and a three-pointer. If UCLA wants to contend for a Big Ten title and a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament, that will need to be the version of Andrews the Bruins get on a more regular basis.
“If you expect to have a really good year, you hope to have a really good year,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said Monday, “he’s probably going to have to have a really good year, so it’s important for us, obviously. The guy’s got experience, he’s got experience in our system — I’m not saying he’s got to be the player of the year in the Big Ten, but he’s got to give us production.”
Before the season, Andrews said he wanted to be a 40-50-90 player — making 40% of his three-pointers, 50% of his shots and 90% of his free throws — but he hasn’t met any of those benchmarks. Largely as a result of his lack of driving toward the basket, he hasn’t gotten to the free-throw line once.
“You’ve got to be able to create contact, you’ve got to play off two feet, you’ve got to shot fake,” Cronin said, referencing ways to draw fouls.
Andrews’ 2.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio has remained excellent, but he’ll need to more closely resemble the player from late last season if the Bruins (6-1) expect to thrive during a difficult stretch that starts Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion against Washington (6-1) in their first-ever Big Ten game.
After being outplayed by New Mexico’s Donovan Dent, whom Cronin passed on as a high school recruit to take Andrews, in the Bruins’ only loss this season, Andrews will also need to be in top form defensively against a parade of elite guards including Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad, Arizona’s Caleb Love, North Carolina’s R.J. Davis and Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard.
“I don’t put that on anybody,” Cronin said, alluding to the need for everybody on his team to be a stopper. “You know, I still would like [Andrews] to get more deflections; he was back to one deflection in the Southern Utah game.”
Just like with his scoring outburst last week, maybe it’s a start.
Fill seats, win prizes
UCLA has initiated a student attendance challenge as part of its efforts to boost turnout inside Pauley Pavilion. Starting with the game against Washington, students can earn points by attending games and staying until the final buzzer.
Points can be earned by scanning a student Den pass upon entry to the arena and scanning a QR code on the scoreboard or designated areas in the concourse after each game. Food will be provided to students waiting in line at games.
Will the Bruins seek a quarterback in the transfer portal? Aside from 26 seniors, who else might leave for the NFL or transfer portal? Those and other questions.
The students with the 10-most points halfway through the conference schedule will have a chance to make a half-court shot worth $5,000. The same prize will be available at the final home game unless nobody makes the previous half-court shot, in which case the one during the game against USC on March 8 will be worth $10,000.
The student who earns the most points by the end of the season will receive a trip for two to one UCLA men’s basketball postseason game. The students in the top 10% of points at season’s end will receive another prize.
Capacity for students at Pauley Pavilion, which is usually around 1,900, can fluctuate based on the game or demand. UCLA has averaged 4,588 fans for home games this season, topping only USC (3,544) among Big Ten teams.
Etc.
UCLA has made 31.7% of its three-pointers, tying Rutgers for No. 12 in the Big Ten. Cronin’s reaction? “Your perimeter shooting comes and goes like your high school girlfriend does from 18 [years old] to 40 — in and out of your life, OK?” he said. “So you have to be consistent with everything else, and the games where you make a bunch of shots and you do everything else great, you’re going to win easily.” … Cronin said he planned to use a 10-man rotation all season. Eleven players have averaged at least 10 minutes per game this season amid a rash of blowouts, with senior guard Kobe Johnson’s 24.9 minutes leading the team.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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