BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — UCLA’s quest for a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament survived a scare.
Dylan Andrews hit two free throws with four seconds left and the Bruins held off Indiana, 72-68, on Friday night at Assembly Hall. UCLA led for the entire second half and more than 34 minutes overall, but the Hoosiers’ Mackenzie Mgbako missed a 3-point attempt from the corner that could have given Indiana the lead with six seconds left.
With five games left in the regular season, the Bruins (19-7 overall, 10-5 Big Ten) are in fifth place in the conference. The top four finishers earn a coveted double-bye in next month’s Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
UCLA, which had its seven-game win streak snapped Tuesday at Illinois, led by as many as 13 points in the first half and held a 62-52 lead after Tyler Bilodeau’s jumper with 7:43 left. Indiana’s Myles Rice hit a layup and Malik Reneau scored at the basket twice, then answered Kobe Johnson’s jumper with 3:26 left by tipping in a missed 3-point attempt from Mackenzie Mgbako to make it 67-63 with 2:42 remaining.
Reneau completed a three-point play when he was fouled by Trent Perry on a layup with 53 seconds left to get the Hoosiers within 70-68. Indiana forced Sebastian Mack to take a contested shot, which he missed. UCLA’s Skyy Clark grabbed the offensive rebound but was stripped by Anthony Leal, giving the Hoosiers possession with 31 seconds remaining.
Rice then missed a pull-up jumper and Mgbako missed a point-blank put-back attempt, but the ball went off of a UCLA player to give Indiana a baseline inbounds pass for a chance to tie or take the lead. Mgbako got open for a look at a corner 3-pointer, but it caromed off the rim.
Andrews grabbed the rebound in traffic, then calmly stepped to the free-throw line to make it a two-possession game and secure the win.
Bilodeau finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead the Bruins. Clark was 3 for 3 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points and Johnson added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Luke Goode scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Indiana (15-11, 6-9), which ended a five-game losing streak with a victory at No. 11 Michigan State on Tuesday night. Mgbako scored 11 of his 14 points after halftime, and Reneau also finished with 14 points.
UCLA evened its record away from Pauley Pavilion at 6-6 while earning Coach Mick Cronin his 499th career victory. The Bruins played in Bloomington for the first time since Dec. 29, 1956 and faced the Hoosiers for the first time since meeting in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament (UCLA won that game, 54-49).
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UCLA plays host to Minnesota on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.