Indiana Basketball Goes Cold, Loses to UCLA

Down two points with ten seconds to play, Indiana drew up a play to get a look for Mackenzie Mgbako, the team's best 3-point shooter. 

Mgbako had just grabbed a huge rebound off an errant shot from Myles Rice, but missed the put back layup that would've tied the game at 70 with under 15 seconds to play. Luckily for Indiana, UCLA failed to rebound Mgbako's layup miss, giving Indiana that one last shot to tie or take the lead. 

With six seconds left, Mgbako got a clean look off the inbound play for an in-rhythm 3-pointer that would've put Indiana up one, but the shot rimmed out and the Bruins rebounded, forcing Indiana to foul. 

Such was the story for Indiana last night. 

In a game that could've altered the trajectory of the remaining five games of the regular season, the Hoosiers got their looks. From the opening tip, Mackenzie Mgbako and Luke Goode found open looks on the perimeter, just as Mike Woodson would have wanted from his smaller lineups. 

As a team though, Indiana could not cash in. The Hoosiers missed their first seven 3-point attempts before Trey Galloway rattled one in with 4:22 left in the opening half. 

Galloway's three was huge and did create a little shooting momentum with Kanaan Carlyle cashing in from deep just a few minutes later, but at that point UCLA had a substantial lead. Even with the two late makes, the Hoosiers trailed by ten going into half time. 

To Indiana's credit, the players continued to battle enough to put the Hoosiers in position to tie it in the final minute. Despite suffering an apparent lower body injury in the first half, Mgbako showed out offensively, scoring 14 points on mostly drives and midrange jumpers. 

Malik Reneau also had a gutsy performance, again coming off the bench to add 14 points on an extremely efficient 5-7 from the field and 4-5 at the free throw line. Reneau hit a huge and-one to bring Indiana within two in the final minute - the first time the game was within one possession the entire second half. 

Ultimately, the Hoosiers just could not hit the shots they needed to finally close that deficit or take the lead. Indiana finished the night 7-29 from 3-point range while UCLA hit 9-20. 

The loss drops Indiana to 6-9 in the conference with five games to play in the regular season and no guarantee of a postseason.