The Indiana Hoosiers battled UCLA through two overtimes, clinching a dramatic 98-97 win with a freshman's clutch free throw. Trent Sisley hit the game-winner in a battle of bluebloods in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — College basketball bluebloods Indiana and UCLA have played for higher stakes before, but they've never played this long.
The two schools that have 16 combined national championships played at iconic Pauley Pavilition for the first tine on Saturday, and they did not disappoint. It took two dramatic overtimes, but Indiana came away with a much-needed 98-97 victory in its first-ever Big Ten game in California.
There were all sorts of heroes for the Hoosiers, who won their third straight game to get to 15-7 overall and 6-5 in the Big Ten. They had three guys score 20 points or more — emerging star Nick Dorn had 26, and Lamar Wilkerson and Reed Bailey each had 24 — and several others played a role as well.
The last point — the game winner — came on a free throw from freshman Trent Sisley with 0.3 seconds left.
“We showed a lot of guts, a lot of character, a lot of poise by a lot of different guys,” Indiana coach Darian DeVries said. “We showed the ability to be ready when your number is called, and we had guys in spots they had never played before."
For most of the game, UCLA would pull ahead and then Indiana would reel them back in. The Bruins (15-7, 7-4 in Big Ten) led by nine late in the first half, and were still up by one (52-51) at the halfway mark in the second half.
Then the Hoosiers took off, going on a 15-4 run to take a 10-point lead. They still led by 10 at 71-61 with 1:50 left in regulation.
Then it all fell apart — and fast. The Hoosiers, who have struggled to hold leads all season, gave up the lead in a hurry, with two turnovers and two missed free throws on the front end of one-and-ones. Bailey, who was 12-for-13 from the line, had his only miss with eight seconds to go. He made the second, and the Hoosiers led by three.
UCLA brought the ball upcourt, and the Hoosiers opted not to foul. They paid for that poor choice when Trent Perry hit a three with two seconds to go to send the game into overtime.
One overtime period wasn't enough. Sam Alexis scored for Indiana with six seconds to go to send it to the second OT. There were three lead changes in the final minute of the second overtime, with Wilkerson scoring on a layup to give Indiana a 96-95 lead. Alexis added a free throw, but UCLA's Eric Dailey Jr., scored on a layup to tie the game at 97-all with 12 second left.
Indiana had one last possession, but the ball went out of bounds. After review, Indiana kept the ball, and Trent Sisley got free on an inbounds play. He was fouled and made the first to put the Hoosiers ahead, and missed the second as the clock run out.
Sisley hasn't played much lately with Dorn's emergence, but he was there when the Hoosiers needed him. Three Hoosiers — Bailey, Conor Enright and Jasai Miles — had all fouled out.
So was Dorn, who has scored 67 points in his three starts, and Bailey, who had 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. It was the first 20-5-5 game recorded by an IU player coming off the bench this century.
"From top to bottom, everybody had a significant part of the game," Dorn said. "I felt like that shows how connected we are as a team, how we are growing as a team, also learning how to play each other even more and getting more crisp every time we step onto the court."
Wilkerson had 24 points, but made only three three-pointers. He did a great job of attacking the rim, especially in the second half.
“I thought Lamar was terrific,” DeVries said. “We started going to him a lot more, we told him to be assertive. He had an up and down game a little bit, he took it on shoulders, took it to the rim and got fouled."
Indiana had been 0-6 in Quad-1 games before beating No. 12-ranked Purdue on Tuesday in Bloomington. Now they've got two big wins in a week, and have improved their resume enough to be in the NCAA Tournament field at the moment, with nine Big Ten games to go.
Indiana finishes their West Coast swing on Tuesday night when it plays at USC at 10 p.m. ET. The Hoosiers return home next Saturday to face Wisconsin at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.