Ahead of Indiana men’s basketball’s matchup with UCLA, Bruins head coach Mick Cronin commented on the effort that playing in the Big Ten demands.
“You get in this league, it is World War III to get a win,” Cronin said Friday.
In the first matchup of their two-game West Coast trip, the Hoosiers clashed with the Bruins for 50 minutes of action. In a game with 54 total fouls, the Cream and Crimson emerged victorious with a hard-fought 98-97 win Saturday inside the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
Indiana started off slow. It took over 11 minutes for the Hoosiers to muster 10 points, though they were only down by four. Both teams were fiery on defense and aggressive on the glass, not allowing the other to get good looks or second chance points.
For much of the contest, the score remained tight. While both teams made runs, it was largely a back-and-forth game featuring nonstop battles every time the ball came off the glass. Just like it did against No. 12 Purdue on Tuesday, Indiana withstood the pressure.
“They're just playing their guts out right now, and that's what I love about them,” Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said postgame. “They're just giving us everything they got, and they left it all out there, and fortunately, we were able to come away with the win.”
All game long, the Hoosiers struggled to garner any open looks against a relentless UCLA defense. But junior guard Nick Dorn continued his hot shooting streak, creating opportunities for the Hoosiers to jumpstart their offense. Adding six 3-pointers on 15 attempts against UCLA, Dorn has hit 20 longballs across Indiana’s last four games.
“Again, when I shoot, I feel like it's going in regardless of where I shoot or how I shoot,” Dorn said. “I’ve just always had that confidence ever since I was little.”
Senior forward Reed Bailey spearheaded the Hoosiers’ run to jump out to a nine-point lead with four and a half minutes to play, and Dorn drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 10 with under two minutes remaining.
But missed free throws aided a furious UCLA rally, and sophomore guard Trent Perry sank a 3-pointer with 1.1 left on the clock to snatch the momentum and send the game to overtime.
In 10 overtime minutes, the Hoosiers and the Bruins combined for 15 fouls, granting 26 free throw attempts. Over 46% of the points scored after regulation came at the charity stripe. Redshirt senior guard Conor Enright fouled out in the final seconds of regulation, while Bailey and junior guard Jasai Miles fouled out in the first overtime.
In addition to the fouls, the Hoosiers’ physicality was exemplified by their performance on the glass. Despite getting outrebounded 46-40, Indiana corralled crucial rebounds across the overtime periods. Redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries grabbed 10 boards and fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson added eight.
“I thought Tuck had some really nice plays, some rebounds and things. I thought we had a bunch of veteran-type moments in there where it had been really easy to just kind of give in,” Darian DeVries said. “The huddles were great, they were next play, next play, next play and fortunately, we were able to make that one next play that we needed.”
Indiana’s advantage on the bench epitomized its team-wide performance. The Cream and Crimson reserves outscored the Bruins’ bench unit 27-8. The Hoosiers also tallied 22 assists on 28 made field goals, capping off an unselfish showing.
“It was just a hard-fought game,” DeVries said. “Two teams leaving it all out there trying to get a win.”
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.
