FORT WAYNE – IPFW director of athletics Kelley Hartley Hutton and men’s basketball head coach Jon Coffman have announced a three-year series with the Indiana Hoosiers beginning on December 9 of this year, and includes a game in Fort Wayne at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum during the 2016-17 season, and a return trip to Bloomington in 2018-19.

“Hosting Indiana is an incredible opportunity for IPFW basketball fans,” Hartley Hutton said. “Indiana men’s basketball has a rich basketball tradition, and we are excited to bring a program of that caliber to Fort Wayne next year.”

The IPFW vs. Indiana match-up is part of a tournament that will bring four games to Fort Wayne over a 14-day period.  Because the Indiana ticket office will handle ticket sales for the game at the Memorial Coliseum, IPFW will have a limited number of tickets which will be made available for sale to its fan base through the IPFW ticket office.

Due to the anticipated demand and limited tickets, priority will be given for ticket requests based on a reward system for current season ticket holders and donors to IPFW Athletics. While donating or having season tickets in 2015-16 does not guarantee seat selection, it does provide a stronger opportunity to purchase tickets for the event through the reward system. Fans interested in qualifying for preferential ticket opportunities can purchase 2015-16 season tickets by calling IPFW ticket sales manager Nate Felver at 260-481-6372 or support the Mastodon Athletics Scholarship Fund by calling Nathan Payne at 260-481-6894.

“This game is an exciting opportunity for our program, the University and the city of Fort Wayne,” Coffman said. “We appreciate Tom Crean’s openness to bring the Hoosiers to Fort Wayne and add to our city’s basketball tradition and history. This is a great opportunity for both fan bases, and we look forward to a packed Coliseum next season.”

This will be the fourth time since IPFW has become a member of NCAA Division I that a member of a “Power Five” conference has traveled to Fort Wayne for a game against the Mastodons – each time the visitor recorded narrow victories. The first-such game was on December 20, 2002 when the Mastodons hosted Oregon State, falling 78-71 to the Beavers. Three years later on December 18, 2005, Notre Dame escaped the Memorial Coliseum with a 65-63 win over the Mastodons. The most recent contest against a high-major program came on November 19, 2008 when Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans came out of Fort Wayne with a 70-59 victory.