WATCH: Dylan Andrews on Adjusting to College Basketball, UCLA's Vets

UCLA men's basketball guard Dylan Andrews spoke with reporters ahead of Wednesday morning's practice session at the Mo Ostin Basketball Center. Andrews talked about his emotions entering his first ever college game on Monday against Sacramento State, what he's done to increase his speed with the ball, what he's learned from Tyger Campbell so far and how defense and scouting are different from the high school level.

How was your first college game?

Um, first college game was pretty good. Um, just getting to know the swing of things, you know, coming from high school, playing at a D1 level, it's very different. The guys are faster, stronger and there's IQ that comes into play with this, but the veterans and also the coaching staff have helped me prepared for the games that we've and the games that are coming up also.

Nervous? Excited?

Um, a little anxious, for sure. It's my first real college game, so you look forward to that, you put that on your accolades for sure. Um, but going into that game, just, I wasn't trying to do too much, just, you know, play my role, do what I can to help the team win and anytime I get in the game, just, you know, bring high energy.

Coach said you were the fastest player he's seen in 27 years – what goes into that?

Um, well first of all, that coming from Mick Cronin, coach Mick Cronin, is actually a blessing, um, just for him saying that. And, um, I'm gonna stay humble with what he said and just keep going and keep pushing. I wanna shout out coach Nate, for sure, because I was not that fast coming in here, but yeah.

What has coach Nate done to get you faster?

Um, just lifting, working on my legs, working on my body, working on my mobility. And yeah.

Adrenaline that comes with getting the ball?

Oh, for sure. Um, you know, the atmosphere, just playing in Pauley Pavilion and just playing in a big arena compared to just playing in your regular high school arena, it's a big adrenaline rush, but you gotta stay true to yourself and you gotta stay focused and you can't let that adrenaline just start making you do stuff that you don't normally do on the court.

Biggest adjustment from the high school game to college game?

Um, just adapting to the pace of the game, I would say that's a big factor for me that has played since I've been here in June. Um, just playing against guys like, you know, high-level guys like Tyger, Jaime, J-Rock, every day at practice is just, like, wow, it doesn't get any better than that, really. So just adjusting to the pace, for sure, playing against stronger guys like I said earlier, playing against guys with higher IQ, higher motor, it's for sure helping me.

What have you learned from Tyger?

His leadership qualities, for sure. Tyger's just, like, a guy you just want to be around, a guy you just wanna get in the gym with and a guy you can just, you know – he's been just really, he's a very high-character guy and just – um, I'm sorry. He's just – he really loves, like, showing the younger guys and showing – including the guys that's been here – he's been just showing us the ways, the ropes and how things are going. And even if we mess up, he's there for us to help us out, and yeah. I love Tyger, that's my guy.

Being part of a program that puts so much emphasis on defense?

Well coming from a school – I went to a prep school called AZ Compass – and coach Gibson, all he did was preach defense. And so coming here just helped me – him teaching me the different principles helped me get ready to play under coach Mick Cronin, especially cause he sees the defense at a very high level.

Only had two college games...

Oh yeah, that was my second game, yeah.

How is film work different?

Um, high school compared to college is very, very different, I would say, just from – you can tell just from the film that the scouts, everything, they have their numbers, their percentages, what they shoot, where they're getting their shots from. It's really different, and I love it cause you're well-prepared for any incoming game. You know what offense they're running, you know what sets they're running, you what their sets are called.

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