No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson takes down No. 1 Purdue in stunning upset

Fairleigh Dickinson has officially gone where only one No. 16 seed has ever gone before.

FDU, a small private school in Hackensaw, New Jersey that competes in the NEC, shocked the world on Friday by upsetting No. 1 seed Purdue during their Round of 64 game in the NCAA Tournament. It was a wire-to-wire affair where FDU managed to pull away late and win the game 63-58 (punctuated by a Sean Moore triple with just over a minute left).

FDU FROM DOWNTOWN!!

THEY LEAD BY 5 pic.twitter.com/RrW93vHbwp

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2023

(16) FDU UPSETS (1) PURDUE

MARCH. KEEPS. ON. GIVING. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/4T0K3n13Er

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2023

Despite being at a massive size disadvantage, FDU largely dictated the pace of the game throughout. They were quicker to seemingly every loose ball and crisper with seemingly every defensive rotation. FDU withstood a massive 21-15 line from 7-foot-4 Purdue center Zach Edey and held Purdue to a brutal 5-for-26 from deep (while also forcing 16 Boilermaker turnovers).

Mike Leslie of WFAA shared just how improbable FDU’s victory was.

Farleigh Dickinson, by any measure you look at, is objectively one of the worst teams in the country.

They are ranked 301st by the NET Rating, 299th by Ken Pomeroy's Ratings, 307th by the Sagarin Ratings, and 285th by the RPI.

And yet, they lead #1 seed Purdue with 3:07 to play

— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) March 18, 2023

Tobin Anderson, FDU’s head coach, also delivered an emotional interview after the stunning upset.

This interview with Tobin Anderson is everything @FDUKnightsMBB

"That's unbelievable. We just shocked the world!" pic.twitter.com/9B7sUPzdbH

— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) March 18, 2023

FDU becomes just the second No. 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history to take down a No. 1 seed (after UMBC memorably upset Virginia in 2017). As for Purdue, this is now the third season in a row that they have lost in the NCAA Tournament to a No. 13 seed or lower. March Madness indeed.

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