Indiana men’s basketball entered Saturday on a two-game winning streak after victories over Rutgers and No. 12 Purdue.
The Hoosiers — without sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway due to injury — built upon their momentum against UCLA, earning a 98-97 double-overtime victory over the Bruins inside Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. Indiana now sits at 15-7 overall and 6-5 in Big Ten play, while UCLA fell to 15-7 and 7-4.
Junior guard Nick Dorn paced Indiana with 26 points while fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson and senior forward Reed Bailey each notched 24 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Trent Perry led UCLA with 25 points and seven rebounds.
The Bruins jumped out to an early four-point lead, which eventually bumped to six with just over nine minutes left in the first half. However, the Hoosiers — led by Wilkerson’s nine points — went on a 14-2 spurt to take a six-point lead.
But UCLA outscored Indiana 20-8 across the final six minutes of the opening half to take a six-point advantage into the locker room at the break.
Dorn made a pair of free throws to start the second half. The Bruins matched at the line before Indiana senior forward Sam Alexis converted a dunk. Then, Dorn took over.
Dorn, who scored 18.3 points per game across his last three contests, scored Indiana’s next 11 points, giving the Hoosiers a two-point lead. Both squads traded buckets throughout the middle stages of the second half, and the Cream and Crimson led by two at the under-eight-minute media timeout.
As Dorn cooled down, Bailey heated up. The Hartford, Massachusetts, native scored seven consecutive points — followed by Wilkerson’s 3-pointer — to pave the way for a seven-point Indiana lead at the under-four timeout.
While the Hoosiers held a 10-point advantage with under two minutes left in the game, the Bruins staged a dramatic comeback. UCLA outscored Indiana 15-5 over the final 1:50, capped by sophomore guard Trent Perry’s game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left, to force overtime.
Junior guard Jasai Miles and Bailey fouled out in overtime, joining senior guard Conor Enright on the bench with five fouls. Alexis converted a layup with six seconds left in overtime to force double overtime.
The two squads went back and forth for much of the second overtime, but the Hoosiers held possession and inbounded the ball with 1.5 seconds left and the g ame tied at 97. Although Trent Sisley missed a layup attempt, the Bruins fouled him. The freshman forward converted the game-winning free throw with 0.3 seconds remaining — his third point of the game.
Indiana notched its second Quadrant 1 victory Saturday and is slated to finish its two-game West Coast trip with a 10 p.m. matchup Tuesday against USC inside the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
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.
