Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne made just two field goals in the final 14:49 Tuesday night, but it still pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the young college basketball season.
John Konchar canned a free throw with 1:19 left in overtime to snap a tie as the Mastodons stunned the No. 3 Indiana Hoosiers, 71-68 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.
DeAngelo Stewart sank both ends of a one-and-one with 2.9 seconds remaining after he stole the ball from James Blackmon, Jr. on a drive into the lane with the Hoosiers (3-1) hunting a go-ahead shot.
Indiana's final chance to force a second overtime died when Konchar stole the inbounds pass following Stewart's free throws. Fort Wayne students in the bi-partisan sellout crowd of more than 12,000 stormed the court to celebrate the program's first-ever win against a top 25 opponent since joining Division I 15 years ago.
Related
Bryson Scott paced the Mastodons (3-2) with 18 points, while Konchar stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Kason Harrell added 13 points, hitting a 3-pointer to start overtime.
Thomas Bryant collected 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Hoosiers, while Robert Johnson scored 16 points. Blackmon, Jr. and reserve Josh Newkirk hit for 13 apiece.
Indiana started the scoring with a Bryant 3-pointer, but Fort Wayne responded with 13 straight points in a 3:17 span, forcing a timeout from the Hoosiers after Brent Calhoun's jumper capped the stunning run.
The Mastodons didn't back down one bit for the half's remainder, helped along by some poor 3-point shooting by Indiana. The Hoosiers made just 3-of-15 from distance in the half, enabling Fort Wayne to mask its disadvantage in size and strength inside.
A Konchar dunk made it 32-23 Mastodons at the 6:05 mark, but Indiana cut into the lead in the final five minutes. Bryant's spin move along the left baseline resulted in a layup with 2.2 seconds remaining, allowing Indiana to cut its deficit to 38-36 at the half.
NOTES: Indiana is only the second ranked team to play at Fort Wayne in its 15 seasons as a Division I program. The first was Michigan State on Nov. 19, 2008. ... Mastodons G Mo Evans was named Summit League Player of the Week Monday after establishing career highs in points (33), assists (13) and steals (5) Saturday night against UMass Lowell. ... This is the Hoosiers' third of four games in the Indiana Classic. They close out their participation in the event Sunday at home with Mississippi Valley State.
