A brief pause for provincialism

 The hottest D-I basketball team in Indiana plays tonight, at home, and you're probably not going to guess who it is.

No, it's not Notre Dame, although the unranked Irish have won seven of their last nine games, are 21-10, and perhaps represent the best coaching job ever for Mike Brey, longtime ND coach and one of the best people in the business.

No, it's not No. 8 Purdue, who lost Tuesday to Wisconsin on a buzzer-beating three and likely surrendered the Big Ten title in the process.

And, no, it's certainly not unranked Indiana, which lost Wednesday to Rutgers on senior night, also on a buzzer-beating three, and as usual couldn't find the basket with search planes and a topo map.  

So who is it, then?

It's Purdue-Fort Wayne. And please excuse the Blob's brief foray into provincialism.

Right here in the Fort, see, the Mastodons have quietly won nine straight games. Unlike Purdue, they win key games on the road. Unlike Indiana, they can find the basket, and they don't need enhanced assistance to do it.

Want to know what the Dons did last week to lock up the co-championship of the Horizon League in just their second season in the conference?

They beat 20-win Oakland and Detroit Mercy, both on the road.

They beat the former by making 32-of-59 shots (54.2 percent) and sticking a mind-numbing 16 threes in 34 attempts, a 47.1 percent clip.

They handed the latter its only home loss of the season by making 29-of-50 shots (58 percent), and hitting 11 more threes in 22 tries, an even 50 percent clip.

Five players scored in double figures for the Dons in that one, led by 18 off the pine from Deonte Billups, the Horizon's sixth-man of the year. First-team all-conference pick Jarred Godfrey added 16 for Jon Coffman, the Horizon's coach of the year.

Tonight, the 20-10 Dons host 14-15 Illinois-Chicago  -- which itself has won six of its last eight games -- in a Horizon League tournament quarterfinal. If they win that, they'll be two Ws away from the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance.

So, go Dons.

This concludes today's Provincialism Moment.