At the Buzzer: Indiana 98, UCLA 97

• Alex Bozich

• 4h ago

 

Quick thoughts on a 98-97 double overtime win at UCLA:

How it happened

Offense was a struggle in the first half for Indiana at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA’s defense extended far beyond the 3-point line and the Hoosiers had trouble finding in-rhythm looks from the perimeter. Save from a 12-0 run that gave the Hoosiers a 22-16 lead with 6:16 left in the first half, UCLA controlled most of the first half. The numbers tell the story of IU’s offensive struggles to get anything going against UCLA. IU was 10-for-27 from the field, 5-for-15 on 3s and committed six turnovers. Outside of Reed Bailey’s 10 points off the bench and nine points from Lamar Wilkerson, no one else had much going offensively. Fortunately for the Hoosiers, they were able to keep UCLA within an arm’s reach with a strong defensive effort for most of the half. IU allowed just five second-chance points and held the Bruins to 43.3 percent shooting and went to the locker room trailing 36-30.

Indiana got within three by the first media timeout of the second half at 43-40 thanks to hot shooting from Nick Dorn. The junior wing scored eight of IU’s first 10 points out of the locker room. By the under-12 media timeout, Dorn was up to 15 second-half points, and the Hoosiers led 49-47. A Reed Bailey driving dunk gave IU a four-point lead at 56-52 with 8:04 left, forcing Mick Cronin to use a timeout. The Hoosiers stretched the lead all the way to 10 points at 66-56 on a Lamar Wilkerson 3-pointer with 3:57 left, but UCLA answered with a Tyler Bilodeau 3-pointer with 3:06 remaining and UCLA took a timeout.

Dorn’s sixth 3-pointer with 1:50 to play gave IU a 10-point lead at 71-61. UCLA got one of two free throws from Donovan Dent and then an offensive rebound and layup from Trent Perry with 1:15 left to make it 71-64. Lamar Wilkerson stepped out of bounds after an IU timeout, but UCLA couldn’t capitalize as Perry stepped on the sideline on the next UCLA possession. UCLA then fouled Wilkerson with 1:01 left, who missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Dent converted a 3-point play on UCLA’s next possession to make it a four-point game with 51 seconds to play. On IU’s next possession, Wilkerson was fouled and made both free throws and UCLA answered with a Dent layup with 37.5 seconds to play to make it 73-69. Wilkerson turned it over again and Eric Dailey scored to make it 73-71 with 30 seconds left. UCLA then fouled Bailey with 25.5 seconds left and he made both free throws to make it 75-71. Conor Enright fouled out on a Perry layup attempt with 9.9 seconds left and Perry made both to make it 75-73. UCLA fouled Bailey, who made one of two to make it 76-73. Perry’s 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left sent the game to overtime.

One overtime couldn’t decide the winner as UCLA built a 3-point lead at 81-78, but the Hoosiers scored six of the final nine points of the five-minute period to make it 84-all and force a second overtime as Perry’s baseline jumper fell short at the buzzer. The second overtime brought a dramatic conclusion. With the game tied at 97 with 1.5 seconds left, Trent Sisley was fouled after receiving a pass on an inbounds play from the baseline and made one free throw to give the Hoosiers a 98-97 win.

Standout performers

Dorn led IU with 26 points and was 6-for-15 on 3s in 48 minutes. The 6-foot-7 forward also had seven rebounds. Bailey added 24 points, six rebounds and five assists before fouling out in 28 minutes. Wilkerson, who carried in the overtime periods, also had 24 points and eight rebounds in 43 minutes.

Statistics that stand out

Indiana finished 11-for-34 on 3s, 31-for-38 from the free-throw line and scored 1.11 points per possession. The Hoosiers also had 27 bench points and won the points off of turnovers battle 17-9.

Up next for IU

Indiana concludes a two-game West Coast trip on Tuesday night against USC at the Galen Center. Tipoff is set for 10 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBC Sports Network.

Final IU individual statistics

Final tempo-free statistics

Assembly Call postgame show

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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