LOS ANGELES — For a brief moment, it existed. The transfers caught their first glimpse and the returners gained a reminder.

A look into an unbounded Dylan Andrews. The UCLA men’s basketball team was down one point with 4.9 seconds remaining in its game at Oregon on Dec. 8. Andrews grabbed an inbounds pass and immediately slipped, derailing the Bruins’ intended play. But he maintained his dribble, got a favorable switch and stepped back for a game-winning 3-pointer. Forced to take matters into his own hands, Andrews didn’t flinch.

Before that 73-71 win over the Ducks, he had been slumping, averaging 8.7 points over the first six games of the season. It was the perfect storm to jump-start his junior season, to help him rediscover the form he was in during the second half of his sophomore year; instead, self-doubt continued to mar his game.

But, as UCLA (15-6 overall, 6-4 Big Ten) faces No. 16 Oregon (16-4, 5-4) for a second time this season at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Pauley Pavilion, the Ducks will see an all-too familiar version of Andrews. One whose smile has begun to light up media scrums again. Whose on-court demeanor seems jovial. Who is bouncing around screens and knifing into the paint with his hesitation dribble.

“I think he’s playing better,” Bruins head coach Mick Cronin said Wednesday. “Have to give him credit.”

Beyond the low scoring numbers, Andrews’ lack of confidence earlier this season was apparent in his unwillingness to look for his own shot. He averaged just 6.7 field-goal attempts over UCLA’s first 15 games. Over the last four, Andrews has shot 10.3 times per game. In correlation, UCLA has ripped off four consecutive wins.

Oregon has two guards scoring in double digits — sophomore Jackson Shelstad (12.7 ppg) and senior TJ Bamba (10.4 ppg). Shelstad is averaging 16.4 points and shooting 56% from the field over the last five games, so Andrews’ ability to remain will be crucial. A talented player’s skill doesn’t just disappear.

With Andrews, more than others, the peaks and valleys are defined by the fluctuating state of his self-belief. His teammates guided him through his early-season trials. Eric Dailey Jr. was impressed with Andrews’ ability to impact games beyond his offense.

Sebastian Mack continued to encourage Andrews, saying, “regardless of what it is, keep your head forward.”

Kobe Johnson talked about the potential of the Bruins’ season if Andrews’ came around. “If D.A. can score the ball,” Johnson said Dec. 11, “it’ll spread the floor a whole lot more.”

Colin Pfaff, his coach at Windward High, thought back to the dynamic athlete that tormented opposing Southern California youth guards.

“He has it in there,” Pfaff said. “We all saw it.”

It was just a matter of Andrews believing in himself and accepting that mistakes were inevitable and playing through them. A shift was noticeable in UCLA’s 94-70 win over Iowa on Jan. 17. Andrews scored 13 points, his first double-digit scoring output in exactly a month.

That continued into UCLA’s 85-83 win over Wisconsin as Andrews attempted double-digit shots (10) for the first time in more than a month. What stood out more was, three days later, when Andrews didn’t let an inefficient shooting night deter him from hoisting. He shot 4 of 13 against Washington on Jan. 21, but with 17 seconds left he improvised in a similar fashion as he did in the Bruins’ win over Oregon, turning a broken play into a game-sealing shot.

“It kind of got discombobulated,” Andrews said. “So, I just stepped back and — man, thank God I got to see a shot go in.”

Andrews’ 3-pointer was the dagger in UCLA’s 65-60 win over Washington. Unlike the first half of the season, he stuck with his shot despite the mixed results. He rose as a consistent source of offense after leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau exited three minutes into the game with an ankle injury. And with Bilodeau out for the Bruins’ game against USC on Monday, Andrews shouldered the offense. UCLA ran frequent high ball-screen actions with Andrews as the initiator.

“We were able to give him the ball in the pick-and-roll where he’s a scoring threat,” Cronin said. Andrews got to his spots in the mid-range. He took care of the ball and found his teammates. He had 12 points and six assists. He had hit a fall-away jumper in the corner to put the Bruins up 10 with 11 minutes left.

But, with 5:13 remaining, he left the game with cramps, which have plagued him throughout his time at UCLA. The Trojans responded by increasing their ball pressure. The Bruins edged out a crosstown victory but, without Andrews, struggled to navigate that havoc.

“There were a lot of things we missed when he’s not out there in the last five minutes,” Cronin said. Enough to convince Cronin, and himself, that UCLA’s offense can run through Andrews when needed.