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Michael Conroy/AP
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Fairleigh Dickinson played a relentless defense Friday night as he became the second 16-seed in history to win an NCAA Tournament game, defeating No. 1-seeded Purdue 63-58 by 19 points over Sean Moore. I was.
The shortest team in the tournament, the Knights (21-15), dominated 7-foot-4-foot All-America center Zach Eady from the start. FDU’s players were faster and more composed than Big 10 champion Boilermakers (29-6).
Five years ago, UMBC showed the way for its smaller players by dominating Virginia in its first 16-1 victory after many close matches over the years. Still, No. 16 had a 1-150 record against No. 1 and was 1-151 overall before FDU’s shocker.
After the final horn, the FDU players flocked to each other on the Nationwide Arena floor as Memphis and Florida Atlantic fans joined forces to cheer for the Knights for the final minutes.
Fairleigh Dickinson didn’t even win the Northeast Conference Tournament and fell one point behind Merrimack in the title fight.
FDU held Purdue scoreless for over five-and-a-half minutes, trailing Moore (who hails from the Columbus suburbs) by three points with 1:03 remaining. The Knights held on from there to become his second consecutive double-digit seed to send home the Boilermakers. Purdue was the 3rd seed when it lost to another 15th-seeded New Jersey St. He Peters in last year’s Sweet 16.
Eddie finished what might have been his last college game with 21 points and 15 rebounds, but the Knights didn’t give him the ball until the end. He didn’t shoot in his last nine minutes. The junior center could be picked for his NBA lottery pick, but the bitterness of this loss could sway him into staying for another year.
The Knights’ last two NCAA Tournament wins were the first four, including this year’s win over the Texas Southern 84-61. After the game, Knights coach Tobin Anderson told the players he believed they could handle Edie and his mates.
“The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them,” Anderson told the players in the locker room.
Several Purdue players said they felt slighted for the comments that turned out to be prophetic.
The Knights will meet the Sweet 16 sleepers on Sunday and the Memphis Florida Atlantic winner next week to play at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
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