Fairleigh Dickinson shot down a Giant.
Pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, the undersized, underdog Knights stunned top-seeded Purdue 63-58 on Friday night, becoming the second No. 16 seed to win a game in March Madness.
The smallest of 363 Division I teams in the nation, the Knights (21-15) showed no fear from the start to surround 7-foot-4 All-America center Zach Edey and defeated the Big Ten champion Boilermakers (29-6). Gave. ,
“If we play them 100 times, they’ll probably beat us 99 times,” said FDU coach Tobin Anderson. “Play them 100 times, we have one win. But tonight we had to be unique, we had to be unconventional. We had to tough it out on them, just be different.
Sean Moore scored 19 points to lead FDU and a relentless defensive charge — suppressed by the Knights most of the game — by a team that now has all the attention.
Five years ago, UMBC led the way for the little guys by overpowering Virginia in the first 16-over-1 win after several close calls over the years. Still, No. 16 had a 1–150 record against No. 1s and were 1–151 overall before the FDU blowout.
After the final horn, FDU players huddled each other on the floor of Nationwide Arena, where Memphis and Florida Atlantic fans, awaiting the final game of the day, cheered on the Knights in the final, frantic minutes and Joined the army to do.
The Knights will meet FAU — a 66-65 winner over Memphis — on Sunday for a Sweet 16 berth and a trip to play at New York’s Madison Square Garden next week, just a short drive from the private school’s main campus in Teaneck, New York. Jersey.
“Man, I can’t even explain it,” Moore said. “I’m still in shock. I can’t believe it. It’s insane. But it feels amazing.”
Fairleigh Dickinson also did not win the Northeast Conference Tournament, falling by one point in the title game to Merrimack, which could not participate in the NCAA Tournament due to an NCAA rule that barred it from post-season as it still lost its four Completing- year transition from Division II.
FDU held Purdue scoreless for more than 5 1/2 minutes down the stretch and went ahead by five on a 3-pointer by Moore – who is from suburban Columbus – with 1:03 left.
The Knights became their third straight double-digit seed from there on sending the Boilermakers home. Purdue was the No. 3 seed when it lost in the Sweet 16 last year to No. 15 seed St. Peter’s, another small New Jersey school. The Boilermakers were bounced in the first round in 2021 by 13th-seeded North Texas.
“Our job was just to get into the game and throw a punch,” said FDU’s Demetre Roberts, who is 20 inches shorter than Eddie. “We knew he would throw a lot of punches. Just throw one punch back. We knew what kind of game it was.”
Aday finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds in what may have been his final college game, but the Knights were efficient against him in the second half. Ade did not attempt a shot in the final nine minutes and was surrounded by FDU players whenever he touched the ball.
Ade said, “At times he had a friend guarding the back and a friend basically sitting on my lap.” “He was facing the whole game. It took a lot of effort to catch the catch. Credit goes to him, he had a great game plan. And he executed it very well.
When Purdue’s late push faltered and his season ended, Ade squeezed the shoulder straps on his jersey and headed toward Purdue’s locker room to stone.
The junior center is a potential NBA lottery pick, but the bitterness of this loss could motivate Ade to stick around for another year.
When asked about his future, Ade said, “I have no opinion on it.” “I’ll make my decision going forward.”
The Knights’ two prior NCAA tournament victories came in the first four, including this year when they beat Texas Southern 84–61. After that game, Anderson told his players that he was confident they could handle Eddie and company.
“The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them,” Anderson said with a camera in the locker room.
Some Purdue players said they felt insulted by the comments, which turned out to be prophetic.
“It was the right message, wrong audience,” Anderson said. “I would have said there’s no camera. I didn’t mean to upset Purdue. That wasn’t the idea at all. But that should be the message. We’re trying to win the next game. We couldn’t be happier to be here.” “
“And people will believe.”
Getting into the tournament was quite the accomplishment for FDU, which went 4-22 the year before and now has two NCAA tourney wins in three days.
It was Anderson’s first season at the school, and after getting the job in May, he held to practice the first night to get an idea of what team he would be working with, which had the second-worst record in the program’s 58-year history.
It wasn’t much, so he brought with him three players – Roberts, Grant Singleton, and Moore – from Division II power St. Thomas Aquinas.
Turns out, they are mass murderers.
“We’re the smallest team in the country,” Anderson said. “But we made him (Eddie) uncomfortable. And the things he made weren’t easy baskets. I don’t think he ever felt very comfortable. And it was just a great team effort.
“We were drowning in paint. We moved away from some shooters. Let’s make them 3, but don’t give them 3 — let’s make them 3. Just an incredible team effort.
Purdue finished 5 of 26 from beyond the arc – including 3 of 15 in the second half.
It was the Boilermakers, not the undersized Knights, who were scrambling for an early tip.
Maybe Purdue saw Fairleigh Dickinson on the floor and in the stands as a boisterous group of Boilermakers fans felt like home-court advantage despite being 240 miles from West Lafayette, Indiana.
However, when the Knights’ Joe Munden chanted “FDU!” Chants broke out inside the arena and it was clear that this small team had big dreams.
Without a player on his roster taller than 6-6, Fairleigh Dickinson sometimes needed two players to guard Ade — one in front and one in the back — and he missed his first three shots before dunking.
Ade showed some frustration and at one point told an officer, “Sir, he’s holding my left hand.”
Purdue finally settled down and reeled off 11 straight points – four on Ade free throws – to take a 24–19 lead. However, the Knights responded with a surge of their own and Herru Bligan’s layup after a steal helped FDU take a 32–31 lead at halftime.
Roberts finished with 12 points and 6-4 forward Cameron Tweedy had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting for FDU.