Trent Sisley knows what it’s like to have the basketball in his hands late in the game.
Entering Indiana men’s basketball’s road contest against UCLA, the now-freshman forward’s last game-winning shot happened at Heritage Hills High School in Lincoln City, Indiana.
Sisley, then a sophomore, made a jumper between the free-throw line and the 3-point arc to secure a victory over Boonville High School in late December 2022. He finished that contest with 23 points.
On Saturday, over three years later, Sisley found himself in a similar situation. This time, though, the stakes were higher and the scenario was far different: Indiana and UCLA were knotted at 97 with 1.5 seconds left inside Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles — some 2,034 miles from his hometown.
In the game’s second overtime, Sisley converted from the free-throw line, sealing Indiana’s 98-97 victory over UCLA. The Hoosiers improved to 15-7 overall and 6-5 in Big Ten play with the one-point win.
“I've hit some big ones, I think, in high school, but none of that's the same as this,” Sisley said postgame.
Just before his game-winning shot, Sisley fought for a rebound in the paint that the referees determined went out of bounds off UCLA with 1.5 seconds left. Indiana head coach Darian DeVries drew up an inbound play that had several options.
First, redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries could hit Sisley slipping to the rim on the backside of the play. Then, if Sisley wasn’t open, he could turn to fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson for a shot off a screen or another slip to the rim.
Sisley received rather simple instructions should he catch the ball.
“We told him, ‘If you catch it, it’s no hesitation,’” Darian DeVries said. “’It’s like you’re catching and you’re already up in your shooting motion.’”
Sisley caught the pass, and UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent fouled, sending the former to the charity stripe.
“He did a good job going with force and able to draw the foul there,” Darian DeVries said.
Sisley had failed to make any of his three attempts from the field throughout the contest. Before the final 1.5 seconds of the second overtime Saturday, he was just 2 for 4 from the free-throw line.
Although the game was on the line, Sisley remained calm ahead of the first attempt in part because he said his teammates were confident in him, and Tucker DeVries “came up to” the freshman beforehand.
Sisley converted the first attempt from the line.
He missed the second free-throw, but not intentionally, he said. Still, it all worked out for the Hoosiers.
After the remaining 0.3 seconds ticked off the clock, the horn sounded and Indiana earned a resume-boosting victory, the Hoosiers mobbed Sisley just beyond the free-throw line.
“It was awesome,” Sisley said.
After previously losing four consecutive games, Indiana has now won each of its last three contests. The Hoosiers’ victories over Purdue on Jan. 27 and UCLA on Saturday are Quadrant 1 wins — Indiana’s first two this season.
The Cream and Crimson are just past the halfway mark of their 20-game Big Ten slate. Nine conference contests remain ahead of the Big Ten Tournament and a potential NCAA Tournament berth.
Darian DeVries said the Hoosiers have “zero concern” about their March Madness resume as of Saturday and are instead focused on stacking wins. However, the last two victories are significant for securing the program’s first bid to the Big Dance in three seasons.
Still, the Hoosiers are focused on leaving Los Angeles with two wins. Their next opportunity comes against USC at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
They earned one in their first try thanks, in part, to Sisley’s clutch free-throw. He sees a team that’s been “better” the past three games.
“I think we're starting to really bond together as a team,” Sisley said.
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.
