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A Fairleigh Large Upset in Columbus: FDU becomes the second ever 16-Seed to beat No. 1

UMBC isn’t alone as No. 1 Purdue goes down in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament

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Fairleigh Dickinson v Purdue Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Are you kidding??? For the second time in NCAA tournament history, a 16 seed has beaten a a 1!

Fairleigh Dickinson upsets Purdue, 63-58. UMBC, you are no longer alone.

They have been the hunter all season. They got their prey. It’s not your normal 16-seed or NCAA tournament Cinderella.

Last season, FDU was 4-22 and needed some changes. They hired one of the best that Division-II basketball had to offer as their head coach in Tobin Anderson.

He brought in three transfers from that school. Two were stars and the other was Sean Moore, who scored a career-high 19 points for the Knights on Friday evening, including a huge nine straight late.

Along with that, FDU is the smallest team in the nation at an average of just 6-feet-3-inches. They kept it close on the boards with Purdue — noted tall team — and one of the best big men that college basketball has seen over the last 20 years, Zach Edey. The ball seemed to keep falling out of his hands late.

The Knights never trailed by more than two possessions in this game and led for 25:37 in this game.

This all came after head coach Tobin Anderson was caught on a hot mic after Tuesday’s First Four win saying, “The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them.”

Well, it happened, Tobin. After all those close calls with getting hired for a Division-I head coaching job, you couldn’t have asked for a bigger win than this one.

Fairleigh Dickinson will play the winner of Florida Atlantic/Memphis in Sunday’s Round of 32 in Columbus. Tip time has yet to have been announced.

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