COLUMBUS, Ohio — Fairleigh Dickinson is the No. 2 seed. 16th in NCAA Tournament game-winning history, top seed Purdue's stunning 63-58 behind Sean Moore's 19 points and relentless defense on Friday night.
The shortest team in the tournament, the Knights (21-15) showed no fear as they mobbed 7-foot-4 All-America center Zach Edey from the start. The FDU players were quicker and quieter than the Boilermakers Big Ten champions (29-6).
Five years ago, UMBC showed the way for the little guys by beating Virginia in the first 16-over-1 win after many close calls over the years. Still, No. 16 had a 1-150 record before the FDU shock.
Fairleigh Dickinson didn't even win the Northeastern Conference Tournament, losing by one point in the title game to Merrimack, who was unable to participate in the NCAA Tournament due to NCAA rules barring him from the postseason due to still completing a four-year transition from Division II.
FDU held Purdue scoreless for over 5 1/2 minutes and moved ahead on five 3-pointers from Moore with 1:03 left. The Knights held on from there, becoming back-to-back double-digit seeds that sent the Boilermakers home. Purdue was a 3 seed when they lost to 15 seed Saint Peter in last year's Sweet 16.
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