Hoosiers Stunned By Loss To IPFW

For Fort Wayne fans, it must have felt like another 50 years went by waiting for their team to score.

Fort Wayne was in the lead for 95% of the game in regulation. A Konchar dunk made it 32-23 Mastodons at the 6:05 mark, but IN cut into the lead IN the final five minutes.

The ensuing celebration was something nobody outside the Mastodons’ locker room anticipated. Jon Konchar’s free throw with 1:19 to play in the extra period put the Mastodons up 69-68 before DeAngelo Stewart ended the night with two more from the line.

Jon Coffman, the Mastodons coach, gave credit to IN coach Tom Crean. IN had to twice erase double-digit deficits and did but needed the entirety of the second half’s final 10 minutes to catch and tie IPFW even though one 3-pointer was all the Dons could muster. The energy IN needed to handle a preseason conference favorite, on its home court, also was absent.

Following the game, IN coach Tom Crean confirmed the suspicions of many that Anunoby was under the weather. “So we’ve got to have a mindset to come out and start from the beginning”. Thomas Bryant put up a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Robert Johnson added 16 and James Blackmon Jr. and Josh Newkirk each had 13 points. He has scored 20 points or more in each game, becoming just the third IU player in the Tom Crean era to have three consecutive 20-point games. “With all that being said, if we make our free throws and a couple different plays, it’s a different result”. We knew that. They knew that. “I’m overwhelmed”, Scott said, seemingly speaking for the whole IPFW contingent. “So that’s definitely what we have to go back and do”. And one fan celebrated by, you know, taking down a big gulp of some good ol’ fashioned bleach.

Well, this isn’t the first time that IN has had early hiccups IN their season. The offense looked stagnant and they spent almost the whole night playing catch-up.

In the upset, the Mastodons were led by Bryson Scott, who turned in one of the better individual performances that we have seen all season.

The two-three zone almost helped the Hoosiers salvage the game. IN sold more tickets to the game and played its customary pregame video on the board above midcourt.

L.J. Peak led the Hoyas (2-3) with 18 points, and Rodney Pryor finished with 14 points. Down 12, the Hoosiers teetered on the brink before they switched up their defense. The most disappointing was OG Anunoby, who was held scoreless – but rumors suggest that he was battling a stomach bug, which was why he was held out for the remainder of the game. Anunoby went scoreless in 13 minutes, and afterwards, Crean revealed that the sophomore had developed a sickness sometime Tuesday afternoon. Coffman, however, had one more thing he wanted to say.

“Frankly as much as we posted, there were times that we missed it, missed the post”, Crean said. This one worked out because Indiana was able to make it be a part of the exempt event, the Indiana Classic, a tournament where IU also plays UMass-Lowell, Liberty and Mississippi Valley State in home games. On offense, 3-pointers wouldn’t fall, and the Hoosiers struggled to find anything else without that ability to stretch the floor. IPFW will host the Delta Devils on Saturday. Chavis scored 13 of her points in the second half to help MU (3-1) win its 26th consecutive non-conference home game.