On March 17, 2023, during the first round of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the Purdue University Boilermakers played a college basketball game against the Fairleigh Dickinson University (Fairleigh Dickinson, also FDU) Knights at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Boilermakers, who were seeded first in the East regional bracket and fourth overall in the NCAA tournament, faced the Knights, who were seeded 16th in the East regional bracket and 68th, or last, overall.
The Knights defeated the Boilermakers 63âÂÂ58, becoming the first No. 16 seed out of the First Four to defeat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, and the second 16-seed overall after UMBC's win over Virginia in 2018. It is also just the third time a 16-seed has beaten a 1-seed in college basketball overall, after No. 16 seeded Harvard defeated overall No. 1 Stanford in the women's tournament twenty-five years earlier. As a result, the Knights made it to the round of 32 for the first time in school history and became the first Northeast Conference team to win in the round of 64. With Purdue set as a -point favorite heading into the game, Fairleigh Dickinson's victory was the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history in terms of point spread. Purdue ended their season at 29âÂÂ6, while Fairleigh Dickinson improved to 21âÂÂ15.
At the start of this game, NCAA tournament No. 16 seeds were 1âÂÂ150 all-time against No. 1 seeds since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Five years prior to this game, the UMBC Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed, 74âÂÂ54, over the Virginia Cavaliers.
Fairleigh Dickinson entered its 2022âÂÂ23 season under first-year head coach Tobin Anderson. A preseason NEC coaches' poll picked the Knights to finish tied for sixth in their league. The Knights' roster was especially notable for its small physical sizeâÂÂaveraging barely over , with two starting guards being under , it was the smallest in NCAA Division I men's basketball that season. In the years since the analytics website kenpom.com began tracking average heights of D-I men's rosters in the 2006âÂÂ07 season, only one other roster had a shorter average height (Grambling State in 2009âÂÂ10). The team completed the regular season with a 19âÂÂ15 record and a second-place finish in the NEC.
As the No. 2 seed in the NEC Tournament, they defeated St. Francis Brooklyn and Saint Francis (PA) to advance to the championship game against Merrimack. Because Merrimack was in the last season of a four-year transition period from Division II to Division I, the Knights received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, despite losing the conference championship game to Merrimack 66âÂÂ67.
In the First Four, Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Texas Southern 84âÂÂ61 to advance to the first round. After the game, Anderson said to the team in the locker room, "The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them."
Purdue entered its 2022âÂÂ23 season under 18th-year head coach Matt Painter. Purdue had entered the season unranked but proceeded to win the Big Ten Conference regular-season championship outright by three games. Junior center Zach Edey was named the conference's Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year, and a consensus first-team All-American. In the Big Ten Tournament, they defeated Rutgers, Ohio State, and Penn State, winning the tournament and finishing with a regular season record of 29âÂÂ5. Purdue entered the tournament seeded fourth overall. As a result, Purdue would face the winner of the First Four match between Fairleigh Dickinson and Texas Southern. Fairleigh Dickinson won the game, 84âÂÂ61, and would move on to face Purdue. Purdue entered the game the heavy favorite to win, favored by 23.5 points.
The game was played at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The attendance for the game was 19,564.
The game was televised nationally on TNT and announced by Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, and Jamie Erdahl. The game was played before the start of the Florida AtlanticâÂÂMemphis game, which took place in the same venue. The game drew 4.37 million viewers.
Fairleigh Dickinson started the game off with a 5âÂÂ2 lead, after a Sean Moore three-pointer. Purdue would then go on a 5âÂÂ0 run to take a 7âÂÂ5 lead at the first media timeout. The two teams would continue to trade the lead; the Knights ended up being within one score or having the lead for the first 15 minutes, and a Demetre Roberts three-pointer gave Fairleigh Dickinson a 19âÂÂ13 lead, their largest of the half. However, an 11âÂÂ0 Purdue run gave the Boilermakers a five-point lead with five minutes left in the half. Fairleigh Dickinson forced eight turnovers in the first half, including one off a full-court press near the end of the half leading to a Heru Bligen layup that gave the Knights a 32âÂÂ29 lead, but Purdue's Braden Smith hit two free throws at the end of the half to make it 32âÂÂ31.
After halftime, Fairleigh Dickinson extended the lead to five at 41âÂÂ36 by the 14:30 mark, before another 11âÂÂ0 Purdue run gave them their largest lead of the game. Fairleigh Dickinson, down by six points, went on their own 8âÂÂ0 run to reclaim the lead, before a Zach Edey tip shot tied the game at 49âÂÂ49. At the eight-minute mark, an Edey free throw would give Purdue a 50âÂÂ49 lead, their last of the game; FDU scored the next five points before Purdue's Fletcher Loyer made a three-pointer with 7:09 left to make the score 54âÂÂ53 Knights. The score remained the same for more than four minutes until two Moore free throws with 2:50 left extended the lead to three. With 1:44 left, Purdue inbounded the ball to Edey near the basket, but Fairleigh Dickinson knocked it away and Sean Moore scored a fast break layup to give FDU a five-point lead. The Boilermakers would respond with a Loyer three-pointer, only for Moore to hit his own three for a 61âÂÂ56 Knights lead with 1:04 to play. After two Loyer free throws for Purdue made it a one-score game, FDU's Grant Singleton had his shot blocked by Edey on the next possession; on the chase for the rebound, the ball went out of bounds and was initially ruled Fairleigh Dickinson possession. Upon review, replays appeared to show that FDU's Ansley Almonor was fouled while trying to secure the ball, but with the ball touching him last before traveling out of play and without the ability to add fouls during replay, the officials overturned the call and awarded possession to Purdue. With a chance to tie the game, Purdue's Braden Smith had a layup attempt blocked by Moore and Loyer air balled a three-pointer. Roberts rebounded for Fairleigh Dickinson, was fouled with seven seconds remaining, and made both ends of a 1-and-1 free throw situation to give FDU the final winning margin at 63âÂÂ58.
Moore, a Columbus native, scored a team-high 19 points in the Knights' upset, while Edey scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a losing effort for the Boilermakers.
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In its immediate aftermath, the game was considered possibly the biggest upset in tournament history, mainly owing to Fairleigh Dickinson's significant underdog status; besides being the largest upset of all time by point spread, Fairleigh Dickinson had entered the tournament as the 68th and last-ranked team overall, and it had received the Northeast Conference's automatic bid despite losing the conference championship game (champion Merrimack was ineligible due to its transition from Division II). FDU's 2022âÂÂ23 strength of schedule ranked 363rd and last in Division I according to kenpom.com; also, as noted previously, FDU's roster per KenPom.com was the shortest overall in Division I, and defeated a team with all-American center Zach Edey, who was one of the tallest players in college basketball at 7 feet 4 inches.
Purdue became the first team in tournament history to lose in consecutive years to 15-seeds or worse, having previously been eliminated by 15-seed Saint Peter's in the Sweet 16 of the 2022 tournament.
Fairleigh Dickinson advanced to the Round of 32, in which it faced the 9-seed Florida Atlantic Owls on March 19, 2023. It was competitive throughout the majority of the game, and the Knights led throughout the first ten minutes of the second half. However, the Owls won the game 78âÂÂ70, thus ending FDU's two-game Cinderella run. Florida Atlantic then went on a Cinderella run of their own, defeating No. 4 seed Tennessee 62âÂÂ55 in the Sweet 16 and No. 3 seed Kansas State 79âÂÂ76 in the Elite Eight to become the second 9-seed to advance to the Final Four since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The Owls' season ended with a 72âÂÂ71 loss to San Diego State after the Aztecs' Lamont Butler hit a jump shot at the buzzer.
Two days after the Knights' loss to Florida Atlantic, head coach Tobin Anderson announced his departure from FDU after just one year to accept the head coaching position at Iona, which had its head coaching spot recently vacated by Rick Pitino, who departed after three seasons to coach at St. John's.
The first-round loss by East No. 1 seed Purdue, second-round loss by West No. 1 seed Kansas, and Sweet 16 losses by South No. 1 seed Alabama and Midwest No. 1 seed Houston, led to the 2023 tournament becoming the first ever to have none of its top seeds advance to the Elite Eight.
Before the game, CBSSports.com reported there were 22 perfect brackets left in their March Madness tournament. After Purdue's loss however, it was reported that there were no longer any perfect brackets remaining, only two days after the tournament started.