Fairleigh Dickinson stuns top seed Purdue in 1st round
Fairleigh Dickinson became the second No. 16 seed in history to win an NCAA Tournament game, stunning topseeded Purdue 63-58 behind 19 points from Sean Moore and a relentless, hustling defense on Friday night.
The shortest team in the tourney, the Knights (21-15) showed no fear in swarming 7-foot-4 All-America center Zach Edey from the start. FDU’s players were quicker and more composed than the Big Ten champion Boilermakers (29-6).
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 before FDU’s shocker.
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 ½ minutes down the stretch and moved ahead by five on a 3-pointer by Moore with 1:03 left. The Knights held on from there, becoming the second straight double-digit seed to send the Boilermakers home. Purdue was a 3 seed when it lost to 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the Sweet 16 last year. XAVIER 72, KENNESAW STATE 67 » Jack Nunge blocked Terrell Burden’s driving attempt at a goahead layup in the final seconds, and Xavier dug out of a 13-point hole against surprising Kennesaw State to escape with a victory.
MICHIGAN STATE 72, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 62 » Joey Hauser scored 17 points and No. 7 seed Michigan State clamped down defensively on No. 10 seed Southern California in the second half.
BAYLOR 74, UC SANTA BARBARA 56 » Caleb Lohner scored a season-best 13 points in just 18 minutes, and No. 3 seed Baylor beat UC Santa Barbara.
KENTUCKY 61, PROVIDENCE 53 » Antonio Reeves scored 22 points and Oscar Tshiebwe pulled down 25 rebounds in an overpowering display, helping Kentucky beat Providence.
PITTSBURGH 59, IOWA STATE 41 » Nelly Cummings scored 13 points and No. 11 seed Pittsburgh held sixthseeded Iowa State to 23% shooting.
CREIGHTON 72, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 63 » 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.
MARQUETTE 78, VERMONT 61 » Kam Jones scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half as second-seeded Marquette beat No. 15 Vermont.
GONZAGA 82, GRAND CANYON 70 » Slow-starting Gonzaga finally started playing like a title contender, then wore out Grand Canyon behind 28 points and 10 rebounds from Julian Strawther.
MIAMI 63, DRAKE 56 » Nijel Pack scored 21 points — including the go-ahead jumper and a pair of free throws in the final minute — to rally Miami past Drake.