Bruins Junior Guard Eager To Face Tournament-Caliber Opponent

The UCLA Bruins will head to a neutral site in Nevada to battle one of the Mountain West's best on Friday night in just their second game of the season. One of their returning junior guards is excited and ready to face the challenge ahead.

Nov 4, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin with guards Sebastian Mack (12) and Dylan Andrews (2) during the first half against the Rider Broncs at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The No. 22 UCLA Bruins (1-0) got off on the right foot with a dominant win on opening night against Rider University. They will stack up against a much tougher opponent in the New Mexico Lobos on Friday night at a neutral location in Nevada, and one of their veteran guards is up to the task.

Junior Dylan Andrews is taking on a much larger role in his third season under Coach Mick Cronin and is very confident in his group's chances to get it done this weekend. With six new transfer players, four of them being starters, Andrews was asked about the early chemistry of the team.

"I feel like we're gelling together pretty good," Andrews said at Thursday's media availability. "I feel like our chemistry is coming along. It's still the beginning of the season, but we still have, I believe, 30 more games left as well. I feel like every game is a stepping stone for us to get better."

The Bruins will face a New Mexico team that won the Mountain West Conference Tournament last season but were an early exit in the first round of the national tournament in March. Regardless, this is a high-caliber team with a successful history.

Andrews understands how important these early games are to prepare the group for the most important conference games later this season.

"It's exciting man," Andrews said. "We get to play New Mexico early, our second game. Just going into the Big Ten, every game is going to be a monster game, so I feel like playing games like this early is going to help us."

With a multitude of talent across the entire floor, the Bruins will find their shots and the offense will come as the games progress. The biggest emphasis for Coach Cronin is the defensive side of the ball. He has introduced a stat goal that Andrews has inherited and looks to achieve every game.

"The expectation here is defense," Andrews said. "We live by that, we come in here every day knowing that our offense is going to come, but defense, we have to be able to get stops. Our main goal here is 40 deflections a game. We feel like if we can get 40 deflections, we could come out with the [winning] result."

The battle between these two national contending programs will be a good one on Friday night. It will be an accurate measuring stick game for the Bruins to see where this new group of returners and transfers will stack up against the best of the college landscape this season.

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