Indiana men’s basketball had every reason to put its heads down and come to grips with the often inevitable.
Although they controlled much of the second half of their Saturday matchup against UCLA — even leading by 10 points with less than two minutes left — the Hoosiers couldn’t execute in crunch time.
But when Darian DeVries entered the visitors’ locker room inside Pauley Pavilion on Saturday after two overtimes, Bankroll Fresh’s “Take Over Your Trap” blared. The first-year head coach pumped his arms while his team jumped around.
The Hoosiers had just completed what seemed assured, then improbable and finally possible again: a 98-97 victory over the Bruins in Los Angeles. The triumph marked the Cream and Crimson’s third consecutive and second Quadrant 1 win in a row.
“Incredibly proud of them,” Darian DeVries said postgame. “They're just playing their guts out right now, and that's what I love about them. They're just giving us everything they got, and they left it all out there.”
Although the two teams went back and forth for much of the opening portion of the contest, Indiana went on a run and took a six-point lead with six minutes left. UCLA then went on its own spurt and led by six at halftime.
But the Hoosiers worked their way back throughout the second half and eventually took a commanding lead. Junior guard Nick Dorn and senior forward Reed Bailey each went on their own spurts of dominance, as Indiana held a 10-point lead with less than two minutes remaining.
The victory appeared in hand. The Hoosiers would surely cruise to a win over the Bruins and set their sights on leaving the West Coast on Tuesday with two victories.
But, as DeVries told his squad inside the locker room, everything that could have gone wrong did.
Free throws clanked off the rim. The press proved too difficult to break. The Bruins converted at the rim, at the free-throw line and beyond the arc. The Hoosiers’ arguable best defender, senior guard Conor Enright, fouled out.
UCLA sophomore guard Tyler Perry’s game-tying, overtime-forcing 3-pointer two seconds before the horn sounded gave the hosts all momentum. The 10,086 fans inside the nearly 66-year-old arena finally had reason to cheer on their beloved Bruins.
While his title — redshirt senior forward — may not bear the same weight as his father’s, Tucker DeVries rallied his teammates. The Waukee, Iowa, native emphasized flushing the negative plays, which Darian DeVries said are “correctables,” throughout the late-game collapse.
“It's a moment we've got to learn from,” Darian DeVries said, “so that we don't get in that situation again.”
Still, UCLA led halfway through the first five-minute overtime period, seemingly on its way to victory. Even after Indiana fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson made a pair of buckets, the Bruins responded with a free throw and layup.
It wasn’t until senior forward Sam Alexis converted in the paint with six seconds left that a second overtime seemed possible. The Hoosiers managed to force another five minutes of play, but junior guard Jasai Miles and Bailey each fouled out.
Indiana made three free throws to start double overtime. Momentum appeared on the visitors’ side with a victory set to follow. But after the two sides went back and forth, the Bruins earned a game-tying layup with 12 seconds left.
The Hoosiers refused to be denied. During an inbound play with 1.5 seconds remaining, redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries found Trent Sisley cutting toward the basket. The freshman forward missed the layup but was fouled.
Sisley made the first free throw, the eventual game-winner, and missed the second. The 0.3 seconds on the clock rapidly ticked off.
The Hoosiers’ tenacity paid off. The scoreboard — which read Indiana 98, UCLA 97 — proved it.
“I thought we had a bunch of veteran-type moments in there where it had been really easy to just kind of give in to it, and it just wasn't our day, everything went wrong and poor is me,” Darian DeVries said. “And they didn't do that.”
In all, the Hoosiers refused to quit. They showed guts, character and poise, Darian DeVries said. All three are often qualities of winning basketball teams.
And all three are traits Indiana has displayed over their last two contests, which have resulted in significant NCAA Tournament resume-building wins.
“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,” Darian DeVries said.
Saturday was a “great win,” Darian DeVries said, that the Hoosiers were “fired up” about.
However, the Hoosiers don’t have long to celebrate. The Cream and Crimson’s full attention is now on USC, which awaits Indiana at 10 p.m. Tuesday in Los Angeles.
But for a few moments in the locker room Saturday, they earned the right to rejoice. After all, they did “Walk in your trap and take over your trap,” as Bankroll Fresh repeats 24 times throughout his four-minute song, because they refused to quit and repeat history.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
