Men's Basketball

Indiana lost to Fort Wayne. Yes, that Fort Wayne, and the reactions are amazing.

Indiana Coach Archie Miller, center, left the court after Indiana’s loss to Fort Wayne in Bloomington, Ind., on Monday night.
Indiana Coach Archie Miller, center, left the court after Indiana’s loss to Fort Wayne in Bloomington, Ind., on Monday night. AP

For the second year in a row, the Fort Wayne Mastodons toppled in-state traditional power Indiana. Only this time, they did it on the Hoosiers’ home floor and in a rout, 92-72.

Fort Wayne (8-5), which lost to Kentucky, 86-67, in Rupp Arena, as part of what some fans have perceived as a lackluster early season schedule, knocked down 17 three-pointers in Assembly Hall, tied for a record by an opposing team.

Kentucky got Nick Richards’ best game of the season and implemented a zone defense Fort Wayne couldn’t solve as it pulled away from the Mastodons last month. Indiana couldn’t slow the barrage.

“They felt the pressure of our poise on offense because we played our process for 40 minutes,” Fort Wayne Coach Jon Coffman said. “We got great shot after great shot after great shot. Seventeen threes, that’s a good night for us but that’s not surprising. We’ve done that before. What was really good was that for 40 minutes we stuck with being us.”

Last year, the Mastodons needed overtime to topple the then-No. 3 Hoosiers in Fort Wayne. That loss signaled the death spiral of Indiana’s season and the end of coach Tom Crean’s tenure.

While Indiana (6-6) has a win over ranked Notre Dame on Coach Archie Miller’s resume, it also now has two in-state losses to Indiana State and Fort Wayne.

Jared Peck: 859-231-1333, @JPSaysHere

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 10:29 AM with the headline "Indiana lost to Fort Wayne. Yes, that Fort Wayne, and the reactions are amazing.."

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