No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson knocks off No. 1 Purdue in men’s NCAA Tournament
Tribune News Service
Fairleigh Dickinson pulled off a massive upset in the men’s NCAA Tournament on Friday night, taking down Purdue 63-58 to become just the second No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed.
Sean Moore scored nine consecutive points for Fairleigh Dickinson down the stretch, including a 3-pointer that gave the Knights a 61-56 lead with 1:03 to play.
The Knights held on from there to complete the upset in the first-round East Region matchup in Columbus, Ohio. Playing in his hometown, Moore finished with 19 points, 14 in the second half. Demetre Roberts added 12 points for FDU.
Fairleigh Dickinson advances to face No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic, which defeated eighth-seeded Memphis 66-65.
The Knights joined No. 16 seed UMBC, which upset top-seeded Virginia in 2018, as the only 16 seeds to beat a No. 1 seed in the tournament.
Fairleigh Dickinson, a private school in New Jersey that plays in the Northeast Conference, beat the Big Ten champions by holding them to 35.8% shooting and forcing 16 turnovers, including 11 steals. The Boilermakers also shot just 5 of 26 from 3-point range (19.2%).
It was the third year in a row that Purdue was knocked out of the tournament by a double-digit seed.
Friday’s results
West Region
(3) Gonzaga 82, (14) Grand Canyon 70
(4) UConn 87, (13) Iona 63
(5) Saint Mary’s 63, (12) VCU 51
(6) TCU 72, (11) Arizona State 70
East Region
(2) Marquette 78, (15) Vermont 51
(7) Michigan State 72, (10) USC 62
(16) Fairleigh Dickinson 63, (1) Purdue 58
(6) Kentucky 61, (11) Providence 53
(3) Kansas State 77, (14) Montana State 65
(9) Florida Atlantic 66, (8) Memphis 65
South Region
(3) Baylor 74, (14) UC Santa Barbara 56
(6) Creighton 72, (11) NC State 63
Midwest Region
(3) Xavier 72, (14) Kennesaw State 67
(4) Indiana 71, (13) Kent State 60
(5) Miami 63, (12) Drake 56
(11) Pittsburgh 59, (6) Iowa State 41
Saturday’s games
West Region
(1) Kansas vs. (9) Arkansas, 2:15 p.m.
(2) UCLA vs. (7) Northwestern, 5:40 p.m.
East Region
(4) Tennessee vs. (5) Duke, 11:40 a.m.
South Region
(5) San Diego State vs. (13) Furman, 9:10 a.m.
(7) Missouri vs. (15) Princeton, 3:10 p.m.
(1) Alabama vs. (8) Maryland, 6:40 p.m.
Midwest Region
(1) Houston vs. (9) Auburn, 4:10 p.m.
(2) Texas vs. (10) Penn State, 4:45 p.m.