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UCLA Basketball: 2024-25 season preview for the Bruins

Mar 14, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Dylan Andrews (2) shoots against the Oregon Ducks during the second half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Mar 14, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Dylan Andrews (2) shoots against the Oregon Ducks during the second half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
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Season Outlook

We won’t dive into the individual metrics, but last season was miserable on offense for the Bruins. This wasn’t a team full of bad players or unfortunate circumstances, it was a really young group replacing a lot of important figures from recently successful teams. Thus, returning three of their four top scorers sets up the Bruins for success this year, even if a few of those names won’t get the same kind of run.

The Bruins should still get great production from Andrews and Mack in the backcourt, but adding pieces like Clark and Johnson becomes very important. The offense didn’t have a lot of juice last season, though there’s now more cooks in the kitchen and long-range shooting potential with Harris and the other offseason additions.

The issue in the frontcourt becomes replacing Bona after he left for the NBA Draft, though Cronin and his staff have done a great job replenishing the lineup. Bilodeau and Kyle are great transfer additions who play strong basketball both on offense and defense and they each could play starter’s minutes. Then you have to consider Mara, whose height makes him a significant weapon especially if he can put the pieces of his game together.

That’s something of a theme for the last year and a half with the Bruins: putting the pieces together. On paper, their lineup was very strong last season but the results simply were not there. This year, a few new additions charge the rotation. There isn’t inherent star power with Clark or Kyle or the other transfers; it’s what they all bring individually to this lineup.

Next. Preseason Big Ten power rankings for 2024-25. Preseason Big Ten power rankings for 2024-25. dark

The Bruins join the Big Ten and hope to make a great first impression, though it’s too early to know just what to realistically expect. Will the travel and new opposition get to the Bruins or can this team laden with talent push through and compete near the top of the league standings? They certainly have the potential for a nice start to the season, though we’ll start to get a firmer grasp on UCLA come December and January.