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KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. – Republican Ted Cruz tried to reach out to Hoosier voters Tuesday by invoking the movie “Hoosiers,” but what he said certainly had a strange ring to it.

Cruz attempted to recreate the iconic scene from the movie where Coach Norman Dale (played by Gene Hackman) tells players to measure the distance between the rim and the gym floor with a tape measure.

The good news: it measured at ten feet, as it should have.

The bad news? Cruz called it a “basketball ring.”

“You know, the amazing thing is that basketball ring here in Indiana, it’s the same height as it is in New York City and every other place in the country,” Cruz said.

But hey, you can’t blame him for trying. Basketball and “Hoosiers” are inextricably linked to Indiana. Cruz’s rival, Donald Trump, is even appearing with legendary former IU basketball coach Bob Knight during a campaign event Wednesday.

As for the basketball ring gaffe, Twitter had a field day:

...Ted Cruz thinks Bob Knight threw a table pic.twitter.com/Vq532DDbjL — Unique (@DJUnique812) April 27, 2016

Cruz: "Boys, we're going to win this election by running the ol' chain-link fence play." https://t.co/6IuB8nIRoP — Jack McCallum (@McCallum12) April 27, 2016

https://twitter.com/StrengthConcept/status/725287422855135232

should be fun watching Trump and Bobby Knight talk about Cruz and basketball "ring" #RingProtector #TakeItToTheRing — John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) April 27, 2016

Gaffes happen to candidates. But it's hard to think of a worse one to make in Indiana. https://t.co/2VZTR1eEbt — Mark Wert (@mwert) April 27, 2016

https://twitter.com/ProHoopsHistory/status/725132123380834304

Did Ted Cruz just call it a basketball ring? In Indiana? Is he going to say he's looking forward to seeing the NASCARs run the Indy 500 next — Will McAvoy (@WillMcAvoyACN) April 26, 2016