Ted Cruz calls basketball hoop a 'ring' in embarrassing 'Hoosiers' gaffe

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind., April 27 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz butchered a scene from the famous basketball movie Hoosiers while speaking in Indiana on Tuesday, calling the rim on the basketball hoop a "ring."

Cruz was speaking in the high school gymnasium where the final game in the movie takes place. In the movie, the underdog team's coach walks his boys into the gym and measures the height of the basket, saying, "Ten feet. I think you'll find that's exactly the same measurement as our gym back in Hickory."

On Tuesday night, Cruz referenced the scene as a campaign metaphor for his underdog status in the race against front-runner Donald Trump.

Cruz asked a man clad in a sweater vest who was standing on a ladder to measure the distance from the rim to the floor. The man fumbled a bit with the tape measure as Cruz made a cringe-worthy slip-of-the-tongue in this basketball-crazy state.

"You know, the amazing thing about that basketball ring here in Indiana, it's the same height as it is in New York City and every other place in this country. And there is nothing that Hoosiers cannot do."

Twitter lit up with posts poking fun at Cruz's mistake.

The gaffe came on what was already a terrible night for the Cruz campaign. He won just one delegate after posting dismal showings in five northeastern states that voted Tuesday.

Cruz attempted to rebound from the gaffe on Wednesday.

"It was wonderful to be in Hickory Gym. Hoosiers is one of my favorite movies of all time. I have no doubt that my high school basketball coach ... was horrified that I stumbled in speaking and called the rim a ring," he told reporters. "I know nobody in the media has ever stumbled over a word."