Donovan Dent Christmas time check in after 13 games

Donovan Dent was the highlighted player going into the 2025 season for UCLA. Dent transferred from New Mexico, where he led the Lobos to the tournament last year and was Mountain West Player of the Year. Dent was expected to come in right away and contribute to the Bruins backcourt that lost Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack. With Skyy Clark alongside him, the Bruins had a dynamic 1-2 punch that could score the ball and open the floor.

Dent showed all the promise and hype that was surrounding him in the first game of the season. As he had 21 points and 9 assists in a win over Eastern Washington and scoring with ease. But then he would see a dip in his efficiency as over the next seven games he would shoot over 38% in just two games. He did battle an injury that he was working through and seemed to affect his ability to drive. His jump shot just wasn’t falling either which has skewed his numbers. As he is currently only shooting 10% from 3-point range on the season.

The positive is Dent is still seeing the floor very well. Operating as a floor general he is up to 6.6 assists per game on the season. While also improving his play on the defensive end. The first few games he did not seem engaged. But he is starting to buy into Cronin’s defensive mindset. Averaging a career high 1.6 steals per game and disrupting passing lanes. UCLA as a whole has also played much better defense over the past five games.

Dent has also been picking up his play recently as his health is getting back to 100%. He has shot at least 50% in three of the last four games while averaging 14 per game. It has bumped up his season average to 39.6% as it as hovering around 34%. He has all the talent you can ask for in a guard and hopefully this is the turning point for him. With Big Ten play beginning again, the Bruins will need the best out of Dent. There is no more time for figuring things out, the star transfer needs to put it all together now and continue the consistency.