Fairleigh Dickinson stuns No. 1 seed Purdue in March Madness

The shortest of the 363 Division I teams in the country, the Knights (21-15) showed no fear in swarming 7-foot-4 All-America center Zach Edey from the start and simply outplayed the Big Ten champion Boilermakers (29-6).

"If we played them 100 times, they'd probably beat us 99 times," FDU coach Tobin Anderson said. "Play them 100 times, we have one win. But tonight's the one we had to be unique, we had to be unorthodox. We had to make it tough on them, just be different."

Sean Moore scored 19 points to lead FDU and a relentless defensive charge — the Knights pressed most of the game — by a team that now has everyone's attention.

Five years ago, UMBC showed the way for the little guys by overwhelming Virginia in the first 16-over-1 victory after numerous close calls over the years. Still, No. 16s had a 1-150 record against No. 1s and were 1-151 overall before FDU's shocker.

After the final horn, FDU's players mobbed each other on the floor of Nationwide Arena, where the fans from Memphis and Florida Atlantic who were waiting for the day's final game joined forces in cheering on the Knights in the final, frantic minutes.

The Knights will meet FAU — a 66-65 winner over Memphis — on Sunday for a Sweet 16 berth and a trip next week to play at Madison Square Garden in New York, just a short drive from the private school's main campus in Teaneck, New Jersey.

"Man, I can't even explain it," Moore said. "I'm still in shock right now. I can't believe it. It's crazy. But it feels amazing."

Fairleigh Dickinson didn't even win the Northeast Conference Tournament, falling by one point in the title game to Merrimack, which couldn't participate in the NCAA Tournament because of an NCAA rule that bars it from the postseason because it's still completing its four-year transition from Division II.

FDU held Purdue scoreless for more than 5 1/2 minutes down the stretch and moved ahead by five on a 3-pointer by Moore — who is from suburban Columbus — with 1:03 left.

The Knights held on from there, becoming the third straight double-digit seed to send the Boilermakers home. Purdue was a No. 3 seed when it lost to No. 15 seed Saint Peter's, another small New Jersey school, in the Sweet 16 last year. The Boilermakers were bounced in the first round by 13th-seeded North Texas in 2021.

"Our job was just to come into the game and throw a punch," said FDU's Demetre Roberts, 20 inches shorter than Edey. "We knew they would throw multiple punches. Just throw a punch back. We knew what type of game this was."

Edey finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds in what may have been his final college game, but the Knights were masterful against him in the second half. Edey didn't attempt a shot in the final nine minutes, and anytime he touched the ball there were FDU players draped all around him.

"A lot of times they would have one dude guarding from behind and one dude basically sitting in my lap," Edey said. "They were full fronting the entire game. Made it very hard to get catches. Credit to them, they had a great game plan coming in. And they executed it very well."

When Purdue's late push fell short and its season ended, Edey squeezed the shoulder straps on his jersey and walked stone-faced toward Purdue's locker room.

The junior center is a possible NBA lottery pick, but the bitterness of this defeat could sway Edey to stick around for another year.

"I have no opinion on that," Edey said when asked about his future. "I'll make my decision going forward."

The Knights' two prior NCAA Tournament wins came in the First Four, including this year, when they drubbed Texas Southern 84-61. After that game, Anderson told his players he believed they could handle Edey and Co.

"The more I see Purdue, the more I think we can beat them," Anderson said with a camera in the locker room.

Some of Purdue's players said they felt disrespected by the comments, which turned out to be prophetic.

"It was the right message, wrong audience," Anderson said. "I would have said that with no camera in there. I didn't mean to get Purdue upset. That was not the idea at all. But that's got to be the message. We're trying to win the next game. We just can't be happy to be here."

"And the guys gotta believe."

Just being in the tourney was quite an accomplishment for FDU, which went 4-22 a year ago and now has two NCAA tourney wins in three days.

This was Anderson's first season at the school, and after he landed the job in May, he held a practice the first night just so he knew what he had to work with from a team that had the second-worst record in the program's 58-year history.

It wasn't a lot, so he brought three players — Roberts, Grant Singleton and Moore — along with him from Division II power St. Thomas Aquinas.

Turns out, they're giant slayers.

"We're the shortest team in the country," Anderson said. "But we made him (Edey) uncomfortable. And the things he made were not easy baskets. I don't think he ever felt terribly comfortable. And that was just a great team effort."

"We were sagging in the paint. We went off certain shooters. Let's make them make 3s, but not give them 3s -- make them make 3s. Just an unbelievable 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 from the opening tip.

Purdue may have had Fairleigh Dickinson outsized on the floor and in the stands as a boisterous group of Boilermakers fans gave their team what felt like a home-court advantage despite being 240 miles from West Lafayette, Indiana.

However, when the Knights' Joe Munden drained a step-back 3-pointer in the first half, "F-D-U!" chants broke out inside the arena and it became obvious this small team had big dreams.

Without a player on its roster taller than 6-6, Fairleigh Dickinson sometimes needed two players to guard Edey — one in front and one behind — and he missed his first three shots before a dunk.

Edey showed some frustration and at one point told one of the officials, "Sir, he's holding my left arm."

Purdue eventually settled in and reeled off 11 straight points — four on Edey free throws — to take 24-19 lead. The Knights, though, responded with their own spurt and Heru Bligen's layup after a steal helped FDU take a 32-31 into halftime.

Roberts finished with 12 points and 6-4 forward Cameron Tweedy had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting for FDU.

KENTUCKY 61, PROVIDENCE 53

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Oscar Tshiebwe pulled down 25 rebounds, the second-most in the tournament since 1973, and Kentucky beat Providence.

Antonio Reeves scored 22 points and Jacob Toppin had 18 for the sixth-seeded Wildcats (22-11), who advanced to face either Montana State or Kansas State Sunday in the East Region.

Eleven of Tshiebwe's rebounds came on the offensive glass — a big factor in the Wildcats staying in control as both offenses grinded to a halt after halftime.

With the two-time Associated Press All-American grabbing just about every loose ball, Kentucky finished with a 48-31 rebounding advantage, controlling the offensive glass (plus-10) and dominating in second-chance points, 18-2.

Ed Croswell scored 16 points for Providence (21-12), which shot just 36.2% while making 5 of 24 3-pointers.

MICHIGAN STATE 72, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 62

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Joey Hauser scored 17 points and No. 7 seed Michigan State clamped down defensively on No. 10 seed Southern California in the second half.

Coach Tom Izzo's Spartans (20-12) will face Marquette on Sunday in the East Region for a spot in the Sweet 16.

Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins added 12 points apiece for Michigan State, which held USC to 34% shooting in the second half.

Joshua Morgan scored 14 and Kobe Johnson 13 to lead the Trojans (22-11), who were knocked out in the tournament's first round for the second straight year.

MARQUETTE 78, VERMONT 61

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kam Jones scored 18 straight points for Marquette in the second half, and the second-seeded Golden Eagles beat No. 15 seed Vermont for their first NCAA Tournament victory in a decade.

Jones finished with 19 points. Oso Ighodaro scored 14 points and David Joplin added 12 as Marquette (29-6) pulled away in the last 10 minutes. Marquette won its first NCAA Tournament game in a decade and advanced to face Michigan State on Sunday.

Dylan Penn, Matt Veretto and Robin Duncan each had 11 points for Vermont (23-11), whose 15-game win streak was snapped.

Jones made a 3-pointer early in the second half to begin an 18-6 spurt during which he scored all of Marquette's points as the Golden Eagles pulled ahead 63-46.

MIDWEST REGION

XAVIER 72, KENNESAW STATE 67

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Jack Nunge blocked Terrell Burden's driving attempt at a go-ahead layup in the final seconds, and Xavier dug out of a 13-point hole against surprising Kennesaw State.

Souley Boum hit four clinching free throws in the final 2.6 seconds for the third-seeded Musketeers (26-9), who ran off 15 unanswered points as part of a game-ending 24-6 run. That was enough to turn away the 14th-seeded Owls (26-9) in the program's first-ever March Madness game.

Xavier moves on to face Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Xavier led 68-67 when Burden — who'd been successful all day with dribble penetration — turned into the paint past Jerome Hunter and appeared to have a path to the rim. The 7-foot Nunge moved over and swatted the ball into the backboard.

Jerome Hunter scored 24 points to lead the Musketeers, while Boum had 17. Nunge had 10 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Burden and Chris Youngblood each scored 14 points to lead Kennesaw State.

PITTSBURGH 59, IOWA STATE 41

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Nelly Cummings scored 13 points and No. 11 seed Pittsburgh held sixth-seeded Iowa State to 23% shooting.

Jamarius Burton added 11 points and Greg Elliott had 10 for coach Jeff Capel's Panthers, who stormed to a 22-2 lead after Iowa State missed its first 11 shots. Things didn't get much better for the Cyclones, who had three stretches in which they missed at least eight consecutive shots.

Pitt (24-11), which edged Mississippi State in the First Four, moves on to play third-seeded Xavier on Sunday.

Gabe Kalscheur and Jaren Holmes each had 12 points for Iowa State (19-14).

MIAMI 63, DRAKE 56

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Nijel Pack scored 21 points, including the go-ahead jumper and a pair of free throws in the final minute, and No. 5 seed Miami rallied past 12th-seeded Drake.

The Hurricanes (26-7) scored the final 10 points. Norchad Omier added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Hurricanes, who were held to a season low in scoring. Wooga Poplar had 15 points.

Miami will face fourth-seeded Indiana or 13th-seeded Kent State in the second round.

Darnell Brodie had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Drake (27-8). The Missouri Valley Conference tournament champions were outscored 16-1 over the final 4:29 and 10-0 in the last 2:28. The Bulldogs missed their last seven shots from the field and were scoreless the final 3:24.

WEST REGION

SAINT MARY'S 63, VCU 51

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Mitchell Saxen had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and Saint Mary's beat ailing VCU.

Alex Ducas also scored 17 points as the fifth-seeded Gaels (27-7) advanced to the second round for the second straight year. Logan Johnson had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Augustas Marciulionis scored 13 points. Saint Mary's will face UConn on Sunday.

Ace Baldwin led 12th-seeded VCU (27-8) with 13 points, but he appeared to sprain his right ankle on his landing after taking a jumper with just over 14 minutes left in regulation. The Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year went to the locker room for treatment and missed about five minutes as VCU expanded its lead from four points to nine.

UCONN 87, IONA 63

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Adama Sanogo scored 10 of his 28 points in the first five minutes of the second half as fourth-seeded UConn took control and beat Iona.

The Huskies (26-8) advanced to play fifth-seeded Saint Mary's on Sunday after losing in the first round under coach Dan Hurley the last two seasons.

Coach Rick Pitino's Gaels (27-8) had their 14-game winning streak snapped. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions led by two at halftime but didn't have the depth to keep up with one of the Big East's best for 40 minutes.

Walter Clayton Jr. led Iona with 14 points.

GONZAGA 82, GRAND CANYON 70

DENVER (AP) — Slow-starting Gonzaga finally started playing like a title contender, then wore out Grand Canyon behind 28 points and 10 rebounds from Julian Strawther.

Zags senior Drew Timme brought his sweatband and handlebar moustache back to March Madness and finished with 21 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the third-seeded Bulldogs (29-5), who haven't lost a first-round game in the tournament since 2008.

Next up for Gonzaga is a game Sunday against either TCU or Arizona State.

Like almost every Zag outside of Strawther, Timme was bottled up and frustrated in the first half, then came out of halftime and looked like a different player. After trailing by as many as seven, Timme's three-point play gave Gonzaga a 48-40 lead early in the second half.

Ray Harrison led the 14th-seeded Lopes (24-12) with 20 points and Chance McMillian had 16.

SOUTH REGION

BAYLOR 74, UC SANTA BARBARA 56

DENVER (AP) — Caleb Lohner scored a season-best 13 points in just 18 minutes, and No. 3 seed Baylor beat UC Santa Barbara.

Adam Flagler led the Bears with 18 points, and LJ Cryer scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half.

Baylor (23-10) overcame a one-point halftime deficit and advanced to play Creighton on Sunday.

Miles Norris led the 14th-seeded Gauchos (27-8) with 15 points. Ajay Mitchell added 13.

CREIGHTON 72, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 63

DENVER (AP) — Ryan Kalkbrenner scored a career-high 31 points and sixth-seeded Creighton overcame an abysmal 3-point shooting day to fend off No. 11 seed North Carolina State.

The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner did a little bit of everything for the Bluejays, which included hitting a big 3-pointer on a day the team finished 3 of 20 from long range. Kalkbrenner had six dunks and seven rebounds, and N.C. State big men D.J. Burns Jr. and Ebenezer Dowuona were hampered by foul trouble.

Next up for the Bluejays (22-12) is third-seeded Baylor in the second round.

Terquavion Smith led the Wolfpack (23-11) with 32 points.

___

AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25