--- ---  # Ted Cruz Defeats Jimmy Kimmel in 'Blobfish' Charity Basketball Game by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jun 18, 2018 6:00 AM UTC  Senator Ted Cruz dribbles past Jimmy Kimmel during the Blobfish Basketball Classic and one-on-one interview at Texas Southern University’s Health & Physical Education Arena in in Houston on Saturday, June 16, 2018. Senator Ted Cruz dribbles past Jimmy Kimmel during the Blobfish Basketball Classic and one-on-one interview at Texas Southern University’s Health & Physical Education Arena in in Houston on Saturday, June 16, 2018.Michael Ciaglo—Houston Chronicle/AP by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jun 18, 2018 6:00 AM UTC In a highly-anticipated showdown dubbed the “Blobfish Basketball Classic,” Texas Senator [Ted Cruz](http://time.com/tag/ted-cruz/) defeated late night TV host [Jimmy Kimmel](http://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217539/jimmy-kimmel/) in a charity game Saturday. Though the match was supposed to end at 15 points, they agreed to call it quits early during the tiring two-hour one-on-one game at Texas Southern University. Cruz came out on top at 11-9 in the match described by the Houston _Chronicle_ as “a slow-motion car-crash of half-court basketball.” “We apologize to the game of basketball,” Kimmel said on behalf of both players. The match was inspired by a comment Kimmel made during one of his late night monologues, in which he [joked](http://time.com/5298457/jimmy-kimmel-ted-cruz-basketball/) that Cruz looked “like a blobfish.” Cruz followed by challenging Kimmel to a one-on-one match. The beneficiaries of the face-off were Houston-based charities Texas Children’s Hospital and Generation One. > [](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1008156956161437697) > [](https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/1008171032551874561) Ted Cruz Beats Jimmy Kimmel in Charity Basketball Game ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5314531/ted-cruz-jimmy-kimmel-basketball-blobfish/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5314531/ted-cruz-jimmy-kimmel-basketball-blobfish/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz Defeats Jimmy Kimmel in 'Blobfish' Charity Basketball Game","datePublished":"2018-06-18T06:00:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:35:43.730Z","description":"Cruz came out on top at 11-9","url":"https://time.com/5314531/ted-cruz-jimmy-kimmel-basketball-blobfish/","keywords":["Sports","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd289617dffbea8d4/69893340656a3ffe4bbd4bc7/800-42.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd289617dffbea8d4/69893340656a3ffe4bbd4bc7/800-42.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"800-4","caption":"Senator Ted Cruz dribbles past Jimmy Kimmel during the Blobfish Basketball Classic and one-on-one interview at Texas Southern University’s Health & Physical Education Arena in in Houston on Saturday, June 16, 2018.","creditText":"Michael Ciaglo—Houston Chronicle/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5314531/ted-cruz-jimmy-kimmel-basketball-blobfish/","name":"Ted Cruz Defeats Jimmy Kimmel in 'Blobfish' Charity Basketball Game"}}]}] ```