Indiana University Athletics
Tuesday, February 3
Los Angeles, Calif.
10:00 PM
Indiana University
at
USC
Growing Bonds – Surging IU Seeks Fourth Straight Win
2/3/2026 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
LOS ANGELES -- Suddenly, Indiana is a basketball force, and if it lacks perfection, no Hoosier complains.
IU (15-7 overall, 6-5 in the Big Ten) has learned how to win, even amid crunch-time calamity. It withstood a late Purdue surge, overcame a blown 10-point lead at UCLA, handled Rutgers' homecourt challenge and seeks a fourth-straight victory when it faces a 16-6 USC team on Tuesday night that is 8-3 at home and 5-5 in its last 10 games.
"As teammates, we're really starting to bond together," freshman forward Trent Sisley says.
Success comes as much from team contribution as individual success.
"Everyone is doing a good job of sticking together," Sisley says. "It's having confidence in each other."
It's more than that, coach Darian DeVries adds.
"They're just playing their guts out right now. That's what I love about them. They're giving us everything they've got. They're leaving it all out there."
Consider Saturday's double-overtime win at UCLA.
Game winning shots? Sisley's been there, done that.
Doing it on a national stage, in this case against UCLA and its 11-national-title tradition in front of a rocking Pauley Pavillion crowd of 10,086, all with Hoosier postseason hopes in play?
Not even close.
"I hit some big ones in high school," says the former Heritage Hills High School standout whose last-second free-throw won the game, 98-97, "but not like this."
The winning free throw came off a set play in the final two seconds. Sisley got an in-bounds pass near the basket from Tucker DeVries, went up for a shot and was fouled. He made the first free throw, missed the second.
"It wasn't too crazy," Sisley says about his mindset before taking the free throws. "I've played basketball for a while. I've been in this position before. My teammates were confident in me. It was cool."
So was the resultant group hug with teammates and the celebration from a significant IU crowd.
"It was awesome," Sisley says. "Hooser Nation showed out, even this far away. It was cool to see all the support."
Overall, Sisley played 14 minutes, scored three points (all from the free throw line) and grabbed two rebounds.
Guard Nick Dorn continued his offensive surge to a fourth straight game. He averages 20.3 points and 5.0 made three-pointers in that stretch.
Tucker DeVries flirts with double-doubles (he had nine points and 10 rebounds in each of his last two games against Purdue and UCLA) when he's not actually getting them (he has three this season). He even came close to a triple double against the Bruins with seven assists.
Guard Lamar Wilkerson continues to rank among the Big Ten's best scorers. His 19.6 average is fifth in the conference behind Northwestern's Nick Martinelli (23.7), USC's Rodney Rice (20.3), Wisconsin's Nick Boyd (20.0) and Minnesota's Cade Tyson (19.9).
Wilkerson leads the Big Ten in 3-point baskets per game, at 3.3.
Don't forget 6-foot-10 forward Reed Bailey, who's coming off a 24-point effort at UCLA.
"He's been more productive," Sisley says. "He took what the defense gave him. He's big, but he can handle the ball. He gets downhill."
Overall Sisley says, "People were ready off the bench. The starters … everyone hit big shots. It was huge."
As far as USC, in the last two weeks it has a 73-71 win at Wisconsin on its resume, lost by just one point at Iowa and edged Rutgers and Northwestern.
Besides Rice, guard Chad Baker-Mazara averages 18.8 points with a team-leading 50 3-pointers and 67 assists. Ezra Ausar, a 6-foot-9 forward, averages 16.1 points and 6.0 rebounds.
The Trojans are coached by Eric Musselman, who is in his second season with a 33-24 record. Before that, he won 111 games at Arkansas and 110 at Nevada. He also won 108 games as an NBA head coach for Golden State and Sacramento.
Beating USC would give the Hoosiers another Quad One victory boost for its NCAA tourney resume, but Darian DeVries says he isn't focused on that now.
"If you stack up enough of them, it'll be what it's going to be," he says, "but we can't worry about stuff. We have to control what we can control right in front of us."
IUHoosiers.com
LOS ANGELES -- Suddenly, Indiana is a basketball force, and if it lacks perfection, no Hoosier complains.
IU (15-7 overall, 6-5 in the Big Ten) has learned how to win, even amid crunch-time calamity. It withstood a late Purdue surge, overcame a blown 10-point lead at UCLA, handled Rutgers' homecourt challenge and seeks a fourth-straight victory when it faces a 16-6 USC team on Tuesday night that is 8-3 at home and 5-5 in its last 10 games.
"As teammates, we're really starting to bond together," freshman forward Trent Sisley says.
Success comes as much from team contribution as individual success.
"Everyone is doing a good job of sticking together," Sisley says. "It's having confidence in each other."
It's more than that, coach Darian DeVries adds.
"They're just playing their guts out right now. That's what I love about them. They're giving us everything they've got. They're leaving it all out there."
Consider Saturday's double-overtime win at UCLA.
Game winning shots? Sisley's been there, done that.
Doing it on a national stage, in this case against UCLA and its 11-national-title tradition in front of a rocking Pauley Pavillion crowd of 10,086, all with Hoosier postseason hopes in play?
Not even close.
"I hit some big ones in high school," says the former Heritage Hills High School standout whose last-second free-throw won the game, 98-97, "but not like this."
The winning free throw came off a set play in the final two seconds. Sisley got an in-bounds pass near the basket from Tucker DeVries, went up for a shot and was fouled. He made the first free throw, missed the second.
"It wasn't too crazy," Sisley says about his mindset before taking the free throws. "I've played basketball for a while. I've been in this position before. My teammates were confident in me. It was cool."
So was the resultant group hug with teammates and the celebration from a significant IU crowd.
"It was awesome," Sisley says. "Hooser Nation showed out, even this far away. It was cool to see all the support."
Overall, Sisley played 14 minutes, scored three points (all from the free throw line) and grabbed two rebounds.
Guard Nick Dorn continued his offensive surge to a fourth straight game. He averages 20.3 points and 5.0 made three-pointers in that stretch.
Tucker DeVries flirts with double-doubles (he had nine points and 10 rebounds in each of his last two games against Purdue and UCLA) when he's not actually getting them (he has three this season). He even came close to a triple double against the Bruins with seven assists.
Guard Lamar Wilkerson continues to rank among the Big Ten's best scorers. His 19.6 average is fifth in the conference behind Northwestern's Nick Martinelli (23.7), USC's Rodney Rice (20.3), Wisconsin's Nick Boyd (20.0) and Minnesota's Cade Tyson (19.9).
Wilkerson leads the Big Ten in 3-point baskets per game, at 3.3.
Don't forget 6-foot-10 forward Reed Bailey, who's coming off a 24-point effort at UCLA.
"He's been more productive," Sisley says. "He took what the defense gave him. He's big, but he can handle the ball. He gets downhill."
Overall Sisley says, "People were ready off the bench. The starters … everyone hit big shots. It was huge."
As far as USC, in the last two weeks it has a 73-71 win at Wisconsin on its resume, lost by just one point at Iowa and edged Rutgers and Northwestern.
Besides Rice, guard Chad Baker-Mazara averages 18.8 points with a team-leading 50 3-pointers and 67 assists. Ezra Ausar, a 6-foot-9 forward, averages 16.1 points and 6.0 rebounds.
The Trojans are coached by Eric Musselman, who is in his second season with a 33-24 record. Before that, he won 111 games at Arkansas and 110 at Nevada. He also won 108 games as an NBA head coach for Golden State and Sacramento.
Beating USC would give the Hoosiers another Quad One victory boost for its NCAA tourney resume, but Darian DeVries says he isn't focused on that now.
"If you stack up enough of them, it'll be what it's going to be," he says, "but we can't worry about stuff. We have to control what we can control right in front of us."
Players Mentioned
Forward
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Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
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Guard
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