Indiana men’s basketball sat in great position to close out a great road win at UCLA.
IU led 71-61 with 1:50 remaining at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. Had the Hoosiers finished it off in regulation, it would’ve marked a clear turning point heading into February.
But that isn’t how things played out on Saturday. UCLA closed out regulation on a 15-5 run, and Trent Perry hit a game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left.
IU faced a precarious situation going to overtime — with Tayton Conerway unavailable and Conor Enright fouled out, the Hoosiers didn’t have a point guard. And other foul trouble left them with very thin remaining depth if something else happened.
So for Indiana to still find a way to win — a 98-97 triumph in double overtime — could mark a turning point this season, after all. Just not in the way anyone could’ve expected in regulation.
“I just thought it showed a lot of guts, a lot of character, a lot of poise, by a lot of different guys,” IU head coach Darian DeVries said after the game. “And having the ability to be ready when your number’s called. We had guys in spots they’ve never played before.”
Indiana (15-7, 6-5 Big Ten) saw its foul situation become even more perilous in overtime. Jasai Miles and Reed Bailey both fouled out in the first overtime period, leaving IU with only five available rotation players: Lamar Wilkerson, Nick Dorn, Tucker DeVries, Trent Sisley, and Sam Alexis.
The Hoosiers responded despite that adversity. When Bailey fouled out with 2:46 left in overtime, the ensuing UCLA free throws gave the Bruins an 81-78 lead. But IU kept fighting. Wilkerson made some big plays, and Alexis later made a key layup with six seconds left in overtime to tie the game.
“From top to bottom, everybody had a significant part in the game,” Dorn said. “I feel like that just shows how connected we are as a team, and how we’re growing as a team.”
Indiana rolled with that same lineup for all of double overtime. There wasn’t much of a choice.
Dorn finished with four fouls, and DeVries had three. Had either of them fouled out, the Hoosiers would’ve had to turn to Aleksa Ristic or Andrej Acimovic, who have barely played this season.
That situation, along with the two extra periods of basketball, led to some big minutes for several players. Dorn logged a career-high 48 minutes, DeVries played 46, and Wilkerson went for a career-high 43 minutes. But they all toughed it out and kept Indiana in the fight.
Both overtime periods were very back-and-forth, but especially double overtime. The second overtime period saw a whopping six lead changes.
UCLA’s Eric Dailey Jr. hit a shot in the paint to tie the game at 97 apiece, threatening yet another overtime period.
But Indiana had spent all game bouncing back when the Bruins went on runs or found big moments like that. And the Hoosiers did it one more time.
After an out-of-bounds review kept the ball with IU with 1.5 seconds remaining, DeVries found Sisley with a bounce pass as the freshman cut towards the basket. And Sisley alertly went up for an awkward layup attempt, which drew a foul from UCLA’s Donovan Dent with 0.3 seconds left.
The Santa Claus, Ind. native kept his cool for the high-pressure free throws. He made one to put Indiana ahead, before missing the second — he later said it wasn’t an intentional miss, but it worked out nicely as it ran the clock out to secure victory.
Sisley said he stayed calm as he went to the foul line.
“It wasn’t too crazy. My teammates were pretty confident in me. Tucker came up to me right before. They’re just super confident in me,” Sisley said. “I’ve been playing basketball a while, so, been in those positions before. But it was just cool to get it done.”
Dorn echoed the high confidence Sisley referenced.
“I was talking to people on the side, I was like, ‘We good,'” Dorn said. “And he hit it. I believed in him.”
Indiana let what could’ve easily been a smooth finish to a great road victory in regulation turn into a double overtime nail-biter. Darian DeVries said that pretty much anything that could have gone against his team in the last 1:50 of regulation, did. And there are surely plenty of scenarios, after that happened, where the Hoosiers lose this game. They’ve had other games where opponents make a big run and they let it spiral away from them.
But that wasn’t the case on Saturday. IU didn’t let that happen.
And that, more than the result itself, is a big turning point for this team. The Hoosiers have now won three straight games, with two coming on the road, and two coming against quad-one opponents. But on this night in Los Angeles, Indiana had to show more character in winning a game than it had all season thus far.
If IU can carry that into February, this team could have a chance to peak at the right time.
“For a group that hasn’t been together a long time in these moments, it’s another thing that we can learn from, the good and the bad. And there’s plenty of both,” DeVries said. “So now, in those situations, it’s one more thing we have to draw back from that we can learn from. But for us, it’s still, it’s a great win. We’re fired up about it.”
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