The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Andrews’ 31 points leads UCLA past OSU
He yanked the ball between his legs early in the second half, asserting his presence in one simple stepback move, rising for a jumper with a surplus of confidence and without a shred of hesitation.
Dylan Andrews, if you haven’t been able to tell, has arrived.
The UCLA sophomore ascended to a headlining act all unto himself on Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas against Oregon State, singlehandedly lifting a UCLA team that’s been in desperate and Mick-croninexpressively dire need of a shot-creator in an up-and-down season. He controlled the pace, a steady hand for a program whose guards have been consistently erratic, spotting up when needed. And he was electric in simply conjuring offense from chaos, putting a Beavers defender on skates on that second-half possession, nailing a jumper in rhythm and jogging back cooly.
He answered the bell at every turn against a rapidly-creeping Oregon State team in the second half, finishing with a career-high 31 points on a lights-out 11-of-15 from the field as the Bruins dispatched the Beavers 67-57 in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament. UCLA (16-16, 11-10 Pac-12) looked all but dead in the water as recently as last Thursday, dropping their fifth game in a row to Arizona; suddenly, though, with Andrews’ emergence and a twogame win streak, they’ll carry significant momentum into a secondround matchup with Oregon (20-11, 12-8 Pac-12) Thursday.
When the Beavers’ Tyler Bilodeau hit a 3-pointer to cut UCLA’S lead to seven, Andrews responded with a timeout-prompting triple to push it back to 10.
When Oregon State sparkplug Jordan Pope nailed a 3 with 10 minutes left to nip the Bruins’ lead to four, Andrews came right back with his fifth triple.
And as Oregon State mounted one final push, it was Andrews who rose with confidence on the wing — passfaking to the corner — to deliver the dagger, all but ending the Beavers’ season with his seventh 3 to push UCLA’S lead to 14 with 2:19 left.
This was not an isolated explosion, Andrews’ growth coming steady, more aggressive and assertive in averaging
18 points and nearly five assists in his last four games entering Wednesday. He showed composure and leadership in crunch-time, putting his arm around Bona and speaking calmly as the big went to the free throw line in the final two minutes, the energetic Bona having just snared a rebound and slapping the ball repeatedly in emphasis. And Andrews’ emergence seemed to take offensive pressure off Bona, who struggled with six first-half turnovers but finished with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, calmer in his second-half decision-making in the post.
The Bruins’ defense and toughness — their staple through an upand-down season characterized by some frank Cronin-isms in postgame pressers and a team with precious little shot-creation — thrived in the first half en route to a 34-22 lead at the break. They held explosive Beavers sparkplug Jordan Pope to just five points on 2-of-7 first-half shooting, forcing not one but two five-second violations on Oregon State, the second immediately followed by Andrews’ third three of the half.
— Luca Evans NO. 20 BYU 87, UCF 73 >> Fousseyni Traore had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Richie Saunders scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and the Cougars squandered a big early lead before pulling away late in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. BYU (23-9) plays No. 25 Texas Tech today.
FRESNO STATE 77, WYOMING 73 >> Isaiah Pope scored 22 points, Leo Colimerio made a go-ahead shot with 20.6 seconds remaining and the Bulldogs advanced in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, snapping a seven-game losing streak. Fresno State plays 18th-ranked Utah State today.
WAKE FOREST 72, NOTRE DAME 59 >> Kevin Miller scored 17 points, Hunter Sallis added 14 and Andrew Carr had a double-double as the Demon Deacons beat the Fighting Irish in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Wake Forest (20-12) plays Pitt today.
NO. 21 SAINT MARY’S 69, NO. 17 GONZAGA 60 >> Gonzaga’s stranglehold on the West Coast Conference Tournament had been especially frustrating for Saint Mary’s, the Gaels often seeing their nemesis celebrate at their expense. Not Tuesday night.
Saint Mary’s led the WCC championship game nearly the entire way to beat Gonzaga behind Aidan Mahaney’s 23 points and Mitchell Saxen’s 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Gonzaga (25-7) had won four WCC championships in a row and 10 of 11, with Saint Mary’s in 2019 the one year the Bulldogs didn’t claim the trophy.
The sharp-shooting Mahaney was a major reason the Gaels (26-7) prevailed. He made 9 of 15 shots, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range. Also for Saint Mary’s, Saxen produced a double-double despite battling foul trouble.
WCC player of the year Augustas Marciulionis scored 13 points and was named tournament most outstanding player.
Notes
Cal signed coach Mark Madsen to a two-year extension after he led an impressive turnaround in his first season with the Golden Bears.
Athletic director Jim Knowlton announced the deal that will run through the 2029-30 season, saying Madsen, the former Lakers player, has made an “incredible difference” in his brief tenure at Cal since taking over a program that went 3-29 under Mark Fox.
• Louisville fired coach Kenny Payne after going 12-52 in two seasons that marked the worst consecutive finishes in the storied program’s history, saying “a change is needed” to reach expectations.