Inside Dylan Andrews’ last-second shot that lifted UCLA to a win over undefeated Oregon

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UCLA guard Dylan Andrews holds a finger up to his mouth, shushing the crowd after hitting the game-winning shot against Oregon on Sunday. (Thomas Boyd / Associated Press)

Dylan Andrews wasn’t supposed to take the shot his team needed to make to wipe out so much that had gone wrong in the final minutes.

With UCLA trailing Oregon by one point and 6.4 seconds left Sunday afternoon inside Matthew Knight Arena, the play was designed to go for Tyler Bilodeau or Lazar Stefanovic.

When Andrews took the inbounds pass near midcourt and immediately stumbled on a wet spot, it seemed as if fate might not be on the Bruins’ side. The Ducks compounded the situation by switching on every screen, taking away the top scoring options and leaving Andrews confronted by center Nate Bittle as Andrews drove toward the left wing.

The clock was dwindling. There was no other move to make. The 6-foot-2 Andrews rose for a shot over the outstretched arm of the 7-foot Bittle.

As Andrews backpedaled to watch the trajectory of a shot that needed a little help, fate was suddenly a friend.

“During those times you see the ball in slow motion and you see it going toward the backboard,” Andrews said, “and the rest is history.”

The rest was the stuff of legends, madness in December.

Andrews’ three-pointer banked into the basket with four-tenths of a second left, leaving a crowd that had been buzzing moments earlier in stunned disbelief. After teammate Eric Dailey Jr. tipped away Oregon’s full-court inbounds pass, the Bruins could celebrate an epic 73-71 triumph that gave the No. 12 Ducks their first loss of the season.

“We tried to give it away,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said after his team persevered for its seventh consecutive victory, “we just got fortunate that we got a shot to go in at the end.”

Andrews’ teammates showered him with the contents of their water bottles afterward in a jubilant locker room, the roars carrying well into a nearby corridor.

UCLA guard Sebastian Mack (12) drives to…

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Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/dylan-andrews-last-second-basket-013209856.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2024-12-09 01:32:00

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