 CLOSE Presidential candidates always want to get on the good side of voters. Possibly not the message he wanted to send on a night where he lost all five primaries to Donald Trump. Most of the movie was actually filmed at the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Ind., where Cruz held his rally on Tuesday. "You know the amazing thing is, that basketball ring here in Indiana is the same height as it is in New York City and every other place in this country," Cruz said as someone measured the height of the rim, a la the movie. Did #TedCruz just call it a "basketball ring"? Knight is scheduled to speak with Trump at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Wednesday. — John Hill (@johnfhill2) April 27, 2016 
 
 Ted Cruz called a basketball hoop a "basketball ring" pic.twitter.com/IXp9MSd6to — Ian Pringle (@pickle_dust) April 27, 2016 
 
 "I miss the time when Cruz referring to a basketball hoop as a 'basketball ring' would have been a gaffe," GOP analyst texts me. — Mark Sumner (@Devilstower) April 26, 2016 
 
 Cruz tries to prove to Hoosiers that he's human by measuring a basketball hoop - then calls it a 'basketball ring" 👽 pic.twitter.com/2wKpHFKmXS — Ryan Adams (@filmystic) April 27, 2016 
 
 We're guessing Cruz staffers, looking ahead to next Tuesday's primary in basketball-crazed Indiana, at that moment had the same reaction as Hackman's players when he initially called the final shot for someone other than Jimmy Chitwood. Speaking from the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Ind., on Tuesday, Cruz acted out the famous scene from the film in which Gene Hackman tells his players to measure the height from the basket to the free-throw line, and from the basket to the floor. pic.twitter.com/wPdDLpPNRr — Daniel Altman (@dbaltman) April 26, 2016 
 
 And no, his reference to a "basketball ring" did not go unnoticed on Twitter.
– Ted Cruz tried to portray himself as a man who knows his hoops on Tuesday night, but he instead made himself look like a man who literally does not know what a basketball hoop is called. With no victory speeches to make elsewhere, he spent the evening in Indiana, where he tried to recreate a scene from Hoosiers during a rally in the gymnasium where much of the movie was shot, USA Today reports. After the height from the basket to the floor was measured, as in the film, Cruz said: "You know, the amazing thing is, that basketball ring here in Indiana is the same height as it is in New York City and every other place in this country," reports the Indianapolis Star, which notes that "traditionally, we call that a 'hoop' here in Indiana." Cruz was swiftly and mercilessly mocked on Twitter. "Is he going to say he's looking forward to seeing the NASCARs run the Indy 500 next," tweeted a "Will McAvoy" account. Some commentators even predicted that he had just handed the race to Donald Trump. That may be an exaggeration, but basketball is definitely a very big deal in Indiana, which explains why Cruz and Trump have been "going all-in on basketball-related pandering," the Washington Post notes. On Wednesday, famed former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight will join Trump for a rally at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.