Fairleigh Dickinson takes down Purdue
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Fairleigh Dickinson brought down a giant.
Pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, the undersized, underdog Knights stunned East Region No. 1 seed Purdue 63-58 on Friday night, becoming the second No. 16 seed to win a game in March Madness.
The shortest team in the tourney, the Knights (21-15) showed no fear in swarming 7-foot-4 AllAmerica center Zach Edey from the start and simply outplayed the Boilermakers (29-6), who lost in their first game since winning the Big Ten tournament title Sunday.
“If we played them 100 times, they’d probably beat us 99 times,” Knights 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 the Knights and a relentless defensive charge — they pressed most of the game — by a team that now has everyone’s attention.
Five years ago, University of Maryland, Baltimore County 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 the Knights pulled off another shocker.
After the final horn, the winning 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 frantic final minutes.
The Knights will meet the winner of that matchup 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 campus in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Fairleigh Dickinson didn’t even win the title at its Northeast Conference tournament, falling by one point in the final to Merrimack, which couldn’t participate in March Madness because of an NCAA rule that bars it from the national postseason because it’s still completing its four-year transition from Division II.
“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.”
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Kentucky 61, Providence 53
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Oscar Tshiebwe pulled down 25 rebounds, the second most by a single player in the tournament since 1973, to help the sixthseeded Wildcats (22-11) beat No. 11 seed Providence (21-12).
Antonio Reeves scored 22 points and Jacob Toppin had 18 for Kentucky, while Ed Croswell’s 16 led Providence.
Eleven of Tshiebwe’s rebounds came on the offensive glass — a big factor in the Wildcats staying in control as each team’s attack ground to a halt after halftime. With the two-time AP 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.
› Michigan State 72, Southern Cal 62
COLUMBUS, Ohio — 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 for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Jaden Akins and Tyson Walker added 12 points apiece for Michigan State, which held the Trojans (22-11) to 34% shooting in the second half.
Joshua Morgan scored 14 and Kobe Johnson 13 to lead Southern Cal, which was knocked out in the first round for the second straight year.
› Marquette 78, Vermont 61
COLUMBUS, Ohio — 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 tourney victory in a decade.
Jones finished with 19 points, Oso Ighodaro scored 14 and David Joplin added 12 as Marquette (29-6) pulled away in the last 10 minutes.
Robin Duncan, Dylan Penn and Matt Veretto each had 11 points for Vermont (23-11), which had won 15 games in a row.
Jones made a 3-pointer early in the second half to begin an 18-6 spurt in which he scored all of Marquette’s points as the Golden Eagles built a 63-46 lead.
MIDWEST REGION › Xavier 72, Kennesaw State 67
GREENSBORO, N.C. — 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 Atlanta-area program’s firstever game in an NCAA Division I tourney.
Xavier moves on to face Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Xavier led 68-67 when Burden — 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 and Nunge added 10 with 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Burden and Chris Youngblood each scored 14 points to lead Kennesaw State.
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Pittsburgh 59, Iowa State 41
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Nelly Cummings scored 13 points and No. 11 seed Pittsburgh (24-11) held sixth-seeded Iowa State (19-14) to 23% shooting.
Jamarius Burton added 11 points and Greg Elliott had 10 for coach Jeff Capel’s Panthers, who edged Mississippi State in a First Four game earlier in the week and stormed to a 22-2 lead Friday 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.
Jaren Holmes and Gabe Kalscheur each had 12 points for Iowa State.
› Miami 63, Drake 56
ALBANY, N.Y. — 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 (26-7) rallied past 12th-seeded Drake (27-8).
The Hurricanes 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.
Darnell Brodie had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Drake. The Missouri Valley Conference tournament champions were outscored 16-1 over the final 4:29 and 10-0 in the last 2:28.
WEST REGION
› Saint Mary’s 63, VCU 51
ALBANY, N.Y. — Mitchell Saxen had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and Saint Mary’s beat ailing Virginia Commonwealth University.
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 for Saint Mary’s, which will face Connecticut 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 more than 14 minutes left in regulation. The Atlantic 10 player and defender of the year went to the locker room for treatment and missed about five minutes.
› UConn 87, Iona 63
ALBANY, N.Y. — Adama Sanogo scored 10 of his 28 points in the first five minutes of the second half as fourth-seeded UConn (26-8) took control and beat Iona (27-8).
Coach Rick Pitino’s Gaels had their 14-game winning streak snapped. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champs 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 — 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 tourney since 2008.
Ray Harrison led the 14thseeded Lopes (24-12) with 20 points and Chance McMillian had 16.
SOUTH REGION
› Baylor 74, UCSB 56
DENVER — Caleb Lohner scored a season-best 13 points in just 18 minutes, and No. 3 seed Baylor (23-10) beat No. 14 seed UC Santa Barbara (27-8).
Adam Flagler led the Bears with 18 points, and LJ Cryer scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half as the team overcame a one-point halftime deficit and advanced to play Creighton on Sunday.
Miles Norris led the Gauchos with 15 points and Ajay Mitchell added 13.
› Creighton 72, N.C. State 63
DENVER — Ryan Kalkbrenner scored a career-high 31 points, and sixth-seeded Creighton (22-12) overcame an abysmal 3-point shooting day to fend off No. 11 seed North Carolina State (23-11).
The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner did a little bit of everything for the Bluejays, which included hitting a big 3 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.
Terquavion Smith led the Wolfpack with 32 points.