At the Buzzer: UCLA 72, Indiana 68

  • Feb 14, 2025 10:28 pm
 

Quick thoughts on a 72-68 loss to UCLA:

How it happened

It was a defensive masterclass for UCLA in the opening 20 minutes on Friday night at Assembly Hall. After the Hoosiers raced to a 10-9 lead by the 15:49 mark, the Bruins put the clamps on the IU offense. The Hoosiers scored just 15 points the remainder of the half. And UCLA led by as many as 13 before settling for a comfortable 35-25 lead at intermission. The shooting numbers for IU were ugly: 9-for-28 from the field and 2-for-13 from beyond the 3-point line. Indiana scored just .84 points per possession. It didn’t help that Mackenzie Mgbako left the game at the 12:49 mark with a foot injury and didn’t return for the remainder of the half. UCLA also dominated Indiana in the paint in the first half, outscoring the Hoosiers 18-12.

The Hoosiers came out firing from the perimeter in the second half and splashed in three of their first five attempts from deep by the first media timeout. Fueled by 10 quick points from Luke Goode, Indiana trailed 42-38 at the under-16 break. UCLA won the next segment and stretched the lead back to seven at 52-45 with 11:46 to play at the under-12 media timeout. Out of the timeout, a quick 5-2 spurt from the Bruins pushed the lead back to 10, prompting a timeout from Mike Woodson. Out of the timeout, Indiana scored five straight to make it 57-52, but Skyy Clark answered with a 3-pointer to push the UCLA lead back to eight with 8:09 left. But the Hoosiers were able to hang around, thanks to Myles Rice. The redshirt sophomore made a 3-pointer and an acrobatic layup to get the Hoosiers within six at the final media timeout. Malik Reneau’s layup cut the UCLA lead to four with 2:42 left and the Bruins took a timeout.

Sebastian Mack’s 3-point play pushed the lead back to seven at 70-63 out of the timeout. But the Hoosiers would score the next five points – a pair of free throws by Luke Goode and a 3-point play by Malik Reneau – to cut the UCLA lead to two with 53.1 seconds to go. A wild shot by Mack on UCLA’s next possession ended in a jump ball, giving IU possession. The Hoosiers had two chances to score, but a Rice jumper missed and a Mgbako putback missed, but the ball went out of bounds, giving the Hoosiers the ball with 8.8 seconds left. IU took a timeout. Out of the break, Mgbako got an open 3-pointer from the corner but missed. Indiana fouled UCLA’s Dylan Andrews, who made both free throws to seal the win.

Standout performer

Goode led the Hoosiers with 16 points on 6-for-13 shooting and Mgbako and Reneau added 14 points each.

Statistics that stand out

UCLA forced Indiana into perimeter shots and it paid off. The Hoosiers shot just 7-for-29 from the perimeter, good for just 24.1 percent.

Final IU individual statistics

Final tempo-free statistics

Assembly Call postgame show

Category: Commentary

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