NCAA Tournament - FDU pulls off biggest upset in tourney history defeating Purdue 63-58
Yahoo Sports college basketball writer Krysten Peek recaps 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson's historic upset over 1-seed Purdue as 23-point underdogs in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.
Video transcript
KRYSTEN PEEK: The madness in March has arrived as the number 16 seed in the East Region, Fairleigh Dickinson, takes down the number one seed Purdue, 63-58. This is the second time in tournament history where a 16th seed upset a number 1 seed, with UMBC shocking Virginia back in 2018.
The Knights were all over 7 foot 4" player of the year Zach Edey every time he touched the ball, even with the average height being only 6' 4" on the court for FDU. Edey only attempted seven shots in the first half. And even though his touches increased in the second half, the Knights still forced 16 turnovers.
FDU was up by 5 points with 1 minute left in the game after Sean Moore hit a long 3 at the top of the key over Edey. Moore led the Knights and had the best game of the season. He was everywhere on the court, finishing with a career-high 19 points and added 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and only committed one turnover in the win. Moore scored 9 out of the final 11 points for the night.
FDU only won four total games last season and didn't even win their conference, coming in second place, but getting the automatic qualifying bid with Merrimack transitioning from Division II to Division I. As a 23 and 1/2 point underdogs, this is the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history. And this is the first time FDU has advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament in school history.
16 seeds are now 2 and 150 in the first round of the tournament. FDU is now the Cinderella team to watch as they try to keep the magic alive. And for continual coverage on the NCAA tournament and all college basketball news, keep it right here on Yahoo Esports.
