Log in

16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson topples No. 1 seed Purdue

Posted

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Fairleigh Dickinson became the second No. 16 seed in history to win an NCAA Tournament game, stunning top-seeded Purdue 63-58 behind 19 points from Sean Moore and a relentless, hustling defense on Friday night.

The shortest team in the tourney, the Knights (21-15) showed no fear in swarming 7-foot-4 All-America center Zach Edey from the start. FDU’s players were quicker and more composed than the Big Ten champion Boilermakers (29-6).

Five years ago, UMBC showed the way for the little guys by overwhelming Virginia in the first 16-over-1 victory after numerous close calls over the years. Still, No. 16s had a 1-150 record against No. 1s and were 1-151 overall before FDU’s shocker.

The Knights will now meet Memphis or Florida Atlantic on Sunday for a Sweet 16 berth in the East Region and a trip next week to play at Madison Square Garden in New York — just a short drive from the private school’s campus in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Fairleigh Dickinson didn’t even win the Northeast Conference Tournament, falling by one point in the title game to Merrimack, which couldn’t participate in the NCAA Tournament because of an NCAA rule that bars it from the postseason because it’s still completing its four-year transition from Division II.

FDU held Purdue scoreless for more than 5 1/2 minutes down the stretch and moved ahead by five on a 3-pointer by Moore — who is from suburban Columbus — with 1:03 left. The Knights held on from there, becoming the second straight double-digit seed to send the Boilermakers home. Purdue was a 3 seed when it lost to 15 seed Saint Peter’s, another small New Jersey school, in the Sweet 16 last year.

Edey finished with 21 point and 15 rebounds in what may have been his final college game, but the Knights consistently denied him the ball in the second half. He didn’t attempt a shot in the final nine minutes.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 66, MEMPHIS 65

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Nicholas Boyd drove into the lane and made a floater with 2.5 seconds left, and Florida Atlantic beat Memphis in a rugged, back-and-forth game for the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.

Coach Penny Hardaway’s Tigers (26-9) had the ball and a one-point lead with 19 seconds left, but a steal by Brandon Weatherspoon and a subsequent jump ball — Hardaway argued his team had called timeout before the tie-up — gave the Owls (32-3) a chance, and Boyd converted.

Giancarlo Rosado scored 15 points to lead ninth-seeded FAU, which advanced to face a surprising opponent, No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, in the second round.

Kendric Davis scored 16 points despite being hobbled by a second-half leg injury for eighth-seeded Memphis. DeAndre Williams added 13 points while playing most of the second half with four fouls for the Tigers, including a tip-in that put his team ahead 65-64 with 34 seconds left.

KENTUCKY 61, PROVIDENCE 53

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Oscar Tshiebwe pulled down 25 rebounds, the second-most in the tournament since 1973, and Kentucky beat Providence.

Antonio Reeves scored 22 points and Jacob Toppin had 18 for the sixth-seeded Wildcats (22-11), who advanced to face Kansas State Sunday in the East Region.

Eleven of Tshiebwe's rebounds came on the offensive glass — a big factor in the Wildcats staying in control as both offenses grinded to a halt after halftime.

With the two-time Associated Press All-American grabbing just about every loose ball, Kentucky finished with a 48-31 rebounding advantage, controlling the offensive glass (plus-10) and dominating in second-chance points, 18-2.

Ed Croswell scored 16 points for Providence (21-12), which shot just 36.2% while making 5 of 24 3-pointers.

KANSAS STATE 77, MONTANA STATE 65

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Markquis Nowell had 17 points and 14 assists and No. 3 seed Kansas State held off 14th-seeded Montana State for its first NCAA Tournament win since knocking off Kentucky in 2018 to reach the Elite Eight.

Now the two Wildcat programs will meet again in a rematch on Sunday in the second round.

Nowell and fellow third-team Associated Press All-American Keyontae Johnson, who had 18 points and eight rebounds, proved too much for the Bobcats to handle. Nae’Qwan Tomlin added 13 points for Kansas State (24-9).

RaeQuan Battle had 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting for Montana State (25-10), which had its eight-game win steak snapped.

MICHIGAN STATE 72, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 62

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Joey Hauser scored 17 points and No. 7 seed Michigan State clamped down defensively on No. 10 seed Southern California in the second half.

Coach Tom Izzo’s Spartans (20-12) will face Marquette on Sunday in the East Region for a spot in the Sweet 16.

Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins added 12 points apiece for Michigan State, which held USC to 34% shooting in the second half.

Joshua Morgan scored 14 and Kobe Johnson 13 to lead the Trojans (22-11), who were knocked out in the tournament’s first round for the second straight year.

MARQUETTE 78, VERMONT 61

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kam Jones scored 18 straight points for Marquette in the second half, and the second-seeded Golden Eagles beat No. 15 seed Vermont for their first NCAA Tournament victory in a decade.

Jones finished with 19 points. Oso Ighodaro scored 14 points and David Joplin added 12 as Marquette (29-6) pulled away in the last 10 minutes. Marquette won its first NCAA Tournament game in a decade and advanced to face Michigan State on Sunday.

Dylan Penn, Matt Veretto and Robin Duncan each had 11 points for Vermont (23-11), whose 15-game win streak was snapped.

Jones made a 3-pointer early in the second half to begin an 18-6 spurt during which he scored all of Marquette’s points as the Golden Eagles pulled ahead 63-46.

MIDWEST REGION

XAVIER 72, KENNESAW STATE 67

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Jack Nunge blocked Terrell Burden’s driving attempt at a go-ahead layup in the final seconds, and Xavier dug out of a 13-point hole against surprising Kennesaw State.

Souley Boum hit four clinching free throws in the final 2.6 seconds for the third-seeded Musketeers (26-9), who ran off 15 unanswered points as part of a game-ending 24-6 run. That was enough to turn away the 14th-seeded Owls (26-9) in the program’s first-ever March Madness game.

Xavier moves on to face Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Xavier led 68-67 when Burden — who’d been successful all day with dribble penetration — turned into the paint past Jerome Hunter and appeared to have a path to the rim. The 7-foot Nunge moved over and swatted the ball into the backboard.

Jerome Hunter scored 24 points to lead the Musketeers, while Boum had 17. Nunge had 10 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Burden and Chris Youngblood each scored 14 points to lead Kennesaw State.

PITTSBURGH 59, IOWA STATE 41

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Nelly Cummings scored 13 points and No. 11 seed Pittsburgh held sixth-seeded Iowa State to 23% shooting.

Jamarius Burton added 11 points and Greg Elliott had 10 for coach Jeff Capel’s Panthers, who stormed to a 22-2 lead after Iowa State missed its first 11 shots. Things didn’t get much better for the Cyclones, who had three stretches in which they missed at least eight consecutive shots.

Pitt (24-11), which edged Mississippi State in the First Four, moves on to play third-seeded Xavier on Sunday.

Gabe Kalscheur and Jaren Holmes each had 12 points for Iowa State (19-14).

MIAMI 63, DRAKE 56

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Nijel Pack scored 21 points, including the go-ahead jumper and a pair of free throws in the final minute, and No. 5 seed Miami rallied past 12th-seeded Drake.

The Hurricanes (26-7) scored the final 10 points. Norchad Omier added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Hurricanes, who were held to a season low in scoring. Wooga Poplar had 15 points.

Miami will face fourth-seeded Indiana in the second round.

Darnell Brodie had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Drake (27-8). The Missouri Valley Conference tournament champions were outscored 16-1 over the final 4:29 and 10-0 in the last 2:28. The Bulldogs missed their last seven shots from the field and were scoreless the final 3:24.

INDIANA 71, KENT STATE 60

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Trayce Jackson-Davis did it all with 24 points, 11 rebounds, five blocked shots and five assists as Indiana defeated 13th-seeded Kent State to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.

The fourth-seeded Hoosiers (23-11) advanced to play fifth-seeded Miami Sunday for a trip to Kansas City for the Midwest Region semifinals.

Jackson-Davis became the first player since blocks became an official NCAA statistic in 1985-86 to have at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and five assists in an NCAA Tournament game, according to OptaSTATS.

Sincere Carry scored 15 points to lead the Golden Flashes (28-7), who had won six straight heading into tournament.

Race Thompson matched a season high with 20 points for the Hoosiers on 8-of-11 shooting.

WEST REGION

SAINT MARY'S 63, VCU 51

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Mitchell Saxen had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and Saint Mary’s beat ailing VCU.

Alex Ducas also scored 17 points as the fifth-seeded Gaels (27-7) advanced to the second round for the second straight year. Logan Johnson had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Augustas Marciulionis scored 13 points. Saint Mary's will face UConn on Sunday.

Ace Baldwin led 12th-seeded VCU (27-8) with 13 points, but he appeared to sprain his right ankle on his landing after taking a jumper with just over 14 minutes left in regulation. The Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year went to the locker room for treatment and missed about five minutes as VCU expanded its lead from four points to nine.

UCONN 87, IONA 63

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Adama Sanogo scored 10 of his 28 points in the first five minutes of the second half as fourth-seeded UConn took control and beat Iona.

The Huskies (26-8) advanced to play fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s on Sunday after losing in the first round under coach Dan Hurley the last two seasons.

Coach Rick Pitino's Gaels (27-8) had their 14-game winning streak snapped. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions led by two at halftime but didn’t have the depth to keep up with one of the Big East’s best for 40 minutes.

Walter Clayton Jr. led Iona with 14 points.

GONZAGA 82, GRAND CANYON 70

DENVER (AP) — Slow-starting Gonzaga finally started playing like a title contender, then wore out Grand Canyon behind 28 points and 10 rebounds from Julian Strawther.

Zags senior Drew Timme brought his sweatband and handlebar moustache back to March Madness and finished with 21 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the third-seeded Bulldogs (29-5), who haven’t lost a first-round game in the tournament since 2008.

Next up for Gonzaga is a game Sunday against TCU.

Like almost every Zag outside of Strawther, Timme was bottled up and frustrated in the first half, then came out of halftime and looked like a different player. After trailing by as many as seven, Timme’s three-point play gave Gonzaga a 48-40 lead early in the second half.

Ray Harrison led the 14th-seeded Lopes (24-12) with 20 points and Chance McMillian had 16.

TCU 72, ARIZONA STATE 70

DENVER (AP) — JaKobe Coles hit a floater from the lane with 1.5 seconds left and No. 6 seed TCU rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat 11th-seeded Arizona State.

Coles took a pass Mike Miles Jr. from near the top of the 3-point circle, dribbled once and let go of the game-winner. Arizona State’s desperation heave at the buzzer missed.

Miles, playing on a hyperextended right knee, finished with 26 points for the Horned Frogs (22-12). They advanced to play Gonzaga.

DJ Horne had 17 points for Arizona State (23-13).

SOUTH REGION

BAYLOR 74, UC SANTA BARBARA 56

DENVER (AP) — Caleb Lohner scored a season-best 13 points in just 18 minutes, and No. 3 seed Baylor beat UC Santa Barbara.

Adam Flagler led the Bears with 18 points, and LJ Cryer scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half.

Baylor (23-10) overcame a one-point halftime deficit and advanced to play Creighton on Sunday.

Miles Norris led the 14th-seeded Gauchos (27-8) with 15 points. Ajay Mitchell added 13.

CREIGHTON 72, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 63

DENVER (AP) — Ryan Kalkbrenner scored a career-high 31 points and sixth-seeded Creighton overcame an abysmal 3-point shooting day to fend off No. 11 seed North Carolina State.

The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner did a little bit of everything for the Bluejays, which included hitting a big 3-pointer on a day the team finished 3 of 20 from long range. Kalkbrenner had six dunks and seven rebounds, and N.C. State big men D.J. Burns Jr. and Ebenezer Dowuona were hampered by foul trouble.

Next up for the Bluejays (22-12) is third-seeded Baylor in the second round.

Terquavion Smith led the Wolfpack (23-11) with 32 points.

___

AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25