LOS ANGELES — The UCLA men’s basketball team erased a 10-point deficit in the last four minutes of regulation and Trent Perry hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to send the game to overtime.
The Bruins’ comeback effort was erased as Indiana showed more poise through two overtime periods, outlasting UCLA, 98-97.
Forward Trent Sisley made the front end of a one-and-one to give the Hoosiers the lead for good with 0.3 seconds left.
Before that, it was back and forth for both overtime periods
In the first overtime, Donovan Dent made a double-clutch layup to give UCLA a two-point lead with 29 seconds left. Indiana’s Sam Alexis answered that basket to extend the game.
In the second overtime, Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson scored four points to give Indiana a lead. Perry hit a corner 3-pointer. Tucker DeVries and Donovan Dent traded successful trips to the free-throw line. Wilkerson beat Perry to put Indiana ahead again. Eric Dailey Jr. tied it with a hook shot before Sisley hit the decisive free throw.
The one-point difference was fitting for a game defined by small margins and minute details.
In the final sequence of double overtime, UCLA lost a review, giving Indiana possession under the basket. Dent was late on a switch and fouled Sisley.
With 4:25 left in the second overtime, Bruins leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau was called for his fifth foul, jockeying for position with Wilkerson.
Moreso, with UCLA focusing its defense on sharpshooters Wilkerson and DeVries, it lost guard Nick Dorn constantly. The junior erupted for a season-high 26 points to help the Hoosiers build a second-half cushion.
As Dorn punished the lazy rotations, the Bruins couldn’t buy a bucket on the other side. They went without a field goal for a seven-minute stretch late in the second half.
UCLA had contained Indiana’s high-powered offense early on. The Bruins allowed only eight points and forced six turnovers in the first 10 minutes.
But in the second half and throughout overtime, their defense wasn’t up to head coach Mick Cronin’s standard.
They fell so far behind that they needed 20 points in the final four minutes. In overtime, Perry couldn’t stay in front of Wilkerson. And on the final possession, the Bruins couldn’t guard an inbound action Cronin said they’d drilled over 10 times in practice.