Mackenzie Mgbako leads Indiana basketball offense, but fades in clutch time to lose vs UCLA

[ad_1]

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball made UCLA earn it.

The Hoosiers fought back from a 10-point deficit in the final minutes of Friday’s game against the Bruins at Assembly Hall, but couldn’t come up with a clutch basket in the final seconds of a 72-68 loss.

Mackenzie Mgbako missed a point-blank layup that would have tied the game with 9 seconds to go, then missed an open 3-pointer from the corner off a well-executed inbounds play coming out of a timeout.

IU player ratings: Guard play steady in another close loss

Indiana (15-11, 6-9 Big Ten) was hoping to build on the momentum it had from an upset win over No. 11 Michigan State earlier this week while UCLA (19-7, 10-5) picked up its first win in the central or eastern time zone in more than three years.

The Bruins hadn’t won a game in this part of the country since beating Kentucky at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 17, 2022.

Indiana had three players in double digits with Luke Goode 16 points (14 in the second half) and Mgbako putting up 14 points.

Indiana basketball’s comeback attempt hits a road block in final minutes

Indiana flirted with a comeback on the back of an impressive shooting display from Goode coming out of halftime. He scored 10 points in a matter of minutes, including back-to-back 3-pointers to trim a double-deficit to four points.

‘I loved playing here’: Purdue icon Robbie Hummel on rivalry at IU basketball’s Assembly Hall

The Hoosiers hit more 3-pointers during that stretch (three) than they had in the first half to get the crowd back into the game, but UCLA weathered the storm with a balanced offensive attack — the Bruins got 24 points off the bench — and impressive team defense.

They contested every shot and had the size to matchup with IU in the post. Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau had a hard time scoring whenever UCLA coach Mick Cronin brought 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara off the bench. He made Ballo, who is listed at 7-feet, look small.

Indiana’s last gasp came with fewer than five minutes to go. The Hoosiers hit…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mackenzie-mgbako-leads-indiana-basketball-035912971.html

Author : Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2025-02-15 03:59:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.