LAS VEGAS -- For much of Wednesday afternoon, Dylan Andrews hovered around the left wing, a smidge behind the paint that marks 3-point range, just far enough out of reach of Oregon State’s closeouts.
Cozy as can be, snugged into a gap of defenders.
Comfortable to attempt six shots and hit five, his only miss from that relative area coming in the first half, before a second half in which Andrews scored 18 of his game-high 31 points to lift the No. 5-seeded Bruins to a 67-57 win over the No. 12 Beavers in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament at T-Mobile Arena.
“Obviously, Dylan was unbelievable tonight,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said about his point guard. “I tell these guys all the time, if you play as hard as you can, work as hard as you can, results will eventually come if you have talent.”
Andrews certainly showed he possesses that in droves. He found space in that slot on the left side, saw one go in and didn’t look back. His open looks, however, were also a product of the increased manpower sent toward center Adem Bona.
Attention that only intensified as he prodded the paint throughout the first half, Bona’s persistence giving the Beavers (13-19) little choice but to hack him. He capitalized on those opportunities, shooting 6-of-7 from the free-throw line and scoring 12 points to help the Bruins (16-16) build a 34-22 lead by the break.
“Adem got fouled 10 times,” Cronin said. “That puts a lot of pressure on the defense. So that goes into why Dylan’s so open."
Andrews agreed.
He commended Lazar Stefanovic and Will McClendon for their hustle. He thought Aday Mara — who scored 7 points — took initiative despite seeming a tad below the level of physicality necessary to hang in Wednesday’s game.
Andrews did about all he could to deflect praise regarding his scoring barrage, a true mark of a Cronin-molded leader through and through -- a sophomore who understands the pressure that comes with his positional title and the history attached to it.
“It’s different being a point guard at UCLA,” Andrews said. “You’re going to go through adversity.”
And he has. He’s accepted the criticism attached to the Bruins' first losing regular season since 2016. But he’s starting to understand the gravity, he’s begun to balance the strain that’s inevitably coupled with playing the role -- a standard set by the likes of Tyus Edney and Russell Westbrook and more recently Tyger Campbell.
Alive in the glimpses that the Bruins have shown, of what was present against Oregon State for a full 40 minutes, has been Andrews’ rise. Over the last two weeks — sans the USC game in which he went scoreless — Andrews has averaged 16 points per game.
More notably, he’s stepped up defensively and did so again Wednesday, feeding off Stefanovic and McClendon, taking the responsibility of guarding Beavers leading scorer Jordan Pope.
“Our main focus was guarding Jordan Pope,” Andrews said. “I feel like we did a pretty good job of that.”
Pope scored 16 points, just below his average, but shot 6 of 16 from the field.
“We were more focused on the defensive end,” Andrews continued. “The offense just came by itself.”
Again, humble, almost as if it were rehearsed. His demeanor mimicking his predecessor Campbell to a tee. Same for his performance, eerily similar to the one that sparked this journey.
A year and two days ago, Andrews witnessed Campbell pick apart the Oregon Ducks, scoring 28 points as he led the Bruins to a Pac-12 tournament finals appearance. And now, here he is, defeating the lumps of this doldrum of a season to figure out who he is and show to the world.
“[Andrews] and I have been on a journey all year to replace Tyger, to figure how he can be him instead of Tyger,” Cronin said. “He’s getting really comfortable.”
This is far from the team that Andrews, Bona and McClendon were pieces of last year, but they’re at a point where none of that matters and they have a guy — in this evolving version of Andrews — who’s found his stroke at a crucial juncture.
UCLA will face fourth-seeded Oregon in the Pac-12 quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m on Thursday while seeing if they can push this season along another day.
