Fairleigh Dickinson has officially gone where only one No. 16 seed has ever gone before.
FDU, a small private school in Hackensaw, New Jersey, that competes in the NEC, shocked the world on Friday by upsetting No. 1 seed Purdue during their round-of-64 game in the NCAA Tournament. It was a wire-to-wire affair where FDU managed to pull away late and win the game 63-58 (punctuated by a Sean Moore triple with just over a minute left).
Despite being at a massive size disadvantage, FDU largely dictated the pace of the game throughout. The Knights were quicker to seemingly every loose ball and crisper with seemingly every defensive rotation. FDU withstood a massive 21 points, 15 rebounds line from 7-foot-4 Purdue center Zach Edey and held Purdue to a brutal 5-of-26 from deep (while also forcing 16 Boilermaker turnovers).
Mike Leslie of WFAA shared just how improbable FDU’s victory was.
Tobin Anderson, FDU’s head coach, also delivered an emotional interview after the stunning upset.
FDU becomes just the second No. 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history to take down a No. 1 seed (after UMBC memorably upset Virginia back in 2017). As for the Boilermakers, this is now the third season in a row that they have lost in the NCAA Tournament to a No. 13 seed or lower. Madness indeed.
More must-reads: