Fort Wayne pulled off an impressive upset by beating Indiana 71-68 in overtime Tuesday in the Indiana classic.
Though his team got a marquee win, Mastodons head coach Jon Coffman was not boastful in his postgame interview, but rather appreciative of his opponent. As Coffman pointed out, most teams would not travel to a smaller in-state school’s venue for a game because the upside is limited, but IU’s Tom Crean didn’t mind.
We thought the interview was over.
But @IPFW's @coachcoffman had some very kind words for @TomCrean & @IndianaMBB. https://t.co/pcEtk0b4Eq
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 23, 2016
“I appreciate Coach Crean coming. It doesn’t happen often in college basketball — taking the challenge. And for him to bring his team to Fort Wayne and help our city — they’ll be talking about Indiana coming to Fort Wayne for 50 years — and he’s the reason they did it,” Coffman said of Crean and Indiana.
“Win or loss, we won the game before it started.”
Crean might think twice about scheduling more games against Fort Wayne in the future, or his team will just be more prepared next time. Regardless, it’s a very cool story for Fort Wayne fans.
