Indiana Survives Double OT Thriller at Pauley Pavilion, Edges Bruins 98-97
Sometimes, a game doesn’t just test your skill - it tests your will. That’s exactly what happened Saturday night in Los Angeles, where Indiana and UCLA traded blows in a double-overtime slugfest that felt more like a heavyweight title bout than a midseason college basketball matchup. In the end, the Hoosiers escaped with a 98-97 win, their second straight Quad 1 victory, and one that showed just how much grit this group has in the tank.
Let’s make one thing clear: Indiana didn’t make this easy on themselves. Up 10 with under two minutes left in regulation after a Nick Dorn three-pointer - a shot that felt like the dagger - the Hoosiers looked ready to cruise to the finish line.
But the Bruins weren’t done. Not even close.
UCLA turned up the pressure, both figuratively and literally. Their full-court press forced Indiana into a flurry of mistakes, and the Bruins capitalized.
Four offensive rebounds in the span of a minute led to six quick points. Suddenly, that double-digit lead was down to five, and the Hoosiers were scrambling.
They burned three timeouts just trying to get the ball inbounds - one after Tucker DeVries couldn’t find a target on the baseline, the others to bail out teammates trapped by double-teams. Lamar Wilkerson, who had a rough stretch late, committed a costly turnover on a bad pass and was whistled for another after stepping out of bounds - though there was more than a little contact on the play that went uncalled.
That Wilkerson turnover led directly to a layup by UCLA’s Eric Dailey Jr., and just like that, Indiana’s lead was down to two with 30 seconds left. Reed Bailey hit a pair of clutch free throws to push it back to four, but UCLA’s Trent Perry wasn’t done.
He rebounded his own miss, drew a foul, and sank both free throws. Then, after Bailey split a pair at the stripe, Perry delivered the dagger of his own - a deep three with two seconds left to tie the game at 76 and send it to overtime.
It was a gut punch. But Indiana didn’t flinch.
With Conor Enright fouling out on the Perry play, DeVries took over ball-handling duties and kept the offense steady. He opened the first overtime with a bucket and continued to impact the game in every facet - finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists in a do-it-all performance.
Bailey, who had been Indiana’s best player on the night with 24 points, six boards, and five assists, fouled out with 2:46 left in the first OT. That could’ve been the breaking point.
Instead, it opened the door for others to step up.
Sam Alexis and Trent Sisley answered the call. Alexis scored on a feed from DeVries with just six seconds left in the first overtime to tie the game at 84 and force a second extra period.
Sisley, meanwhile, made his presence felt with hustle plays that don’t always show up in the box score. He pulled down a tough offensive rebound early in the second OT, got fouled, and hit one of two.
Later, he split another pair. But his biggest moment came with the game tied and just 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
On a baseline out-of-bounds play, Sisley cut hard to the rim, drew the foul, and stepped to the line. Pressure?
Sure. But the freshman calmly knocked down the first free throw.
That was all Indiana needed. One point.
One play. One gutsy win.
Wilkerson, after his struggles late in regulation, bounced back in a big way during the overtimes. He scored 10 points across the two extra frames, attacking the rim with purpose and helping Indiana keep pace. His resilience mirrored that of the entire team - a group that could’ve folded when things unraveled late in the second half, but instead found a way to fight through it.
“Road wins are incredibly hard,” head coach Darian DeVries said afterward. “They left it all out there, and fortunately, we were able to come away with a win.”
That quote says it all. This wasn’t pretty.
It wasn’t clean. But it was tough, and it was earned.
Indiana went into one of college basketball’s most iconic venues and found a way to win - barely, yes, but win nonetheless.
Now the question becomes: how much gas is left in the tank? The Hoosiers won’t have long to recover before facing USC in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. But for now, they’ll take a deep breath, ice up, and enjoy the kind of road win that can define a season.