NCAA men's basketball tourney: A (K)night to remember

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Upsets and close games. Heartbreak and jubilations. March Madness is out there going to work, once again.

Do you believe? 

College basketball asks that question of teams repeatedly during March Madness. Reasons are easy to find as to why, with the run of a Cinderella team (generally) garnering the support of fan bases across the land. 

It's a simple, powerful question that can be laughed off by some teams and fully embraced by others.

Yes, the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights do believe. And believe some more.

On Friday night, the Knights became just the second-ever no. 16 seed in the men's tournament to defeat a no. 1 seed. Nearly five years to the day that UMBC took down top-seed Virginia, the Knights upset the Purdue Boilermakers 63-58.

Undersized and outmanned, Fairleigh Dickinson did not back down against Zach Edey and the powerhouse Boilermakers. The Knights took the fight to Purdue all game, scrapping for every loose ball and winning those 50/50 battles more often than not. They hit big shot after big shot and came up with key defensive stops throughout the game.

Fairleigh Dickinson took a five-point lead with 14:33 remaining and then entered a danger zone as Purdue rattled off an 11-0 run. It seemed the Boilermakers had finally found the separation needed and would put this game away.

Not on the Knights' lives.

FDU retook the lead at 51-50 and never relinquished it, holding Purdue to only 11 points the last 11:41 of the game. This included a stretch of nearly six minutes in which the Boilermakers did not score.

The Knights, who defeated Texas Southern with ease in the First Four, were led by Sean Moore's 19 points. FDU didn't shoot particularly well (24-62, 7-23 from deep) and lost the rebound battle by 10. But they committed only nine turnovers and won so many of those hustle plays not seen in the box score, helping them win this game.

Purdue struggled from three-point range (5-26) and committed 16 turnovers. Edey, the likely Naismith Player of the Year, finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds.

Fairleigh Dickinson owns the impact win of the first round but a handful of double-digit seeds also had their say in things.

Power of the double-digit seed

More double-digit seeds in the past have won first round games than this year, and for the first time since 2018 a no. 12 seed did not beat a no. 5 seed, but there were big surprises in 2023 nonetheless.

Action on Thursday began with a bang. The receiving end of the first huge upset? None other than the Virginia Cavaliers, who in recent years (national title aside) have found themselves in the habit of losing to double-digit seeds.

The Paladins of Furman, a no. 13 seed, won in grand fashion. After a bad turnover by Virginia, JP Pegues nailed a three-pointer with two seconds remaining to send Furman to the round of 32 with a 68-67 victory. 

A couple of hours later, a no. 15-seed decided to up the ante. This time the Princeton Tigers, a program no stranger to huge March upsets, did it again. It was again a PAC-12 team with title aspirations, with the Tigers taking down the Arizona Wildcats 59-55.

Princeton ended the game on a 9-0 run in the victory. Struggles from three (4-25) were surprising but a balanced attack (seven players with 6+ points) and only 11 turnovers helped the Tigers.

Closing out Thursday, if you were sleeping on the Penn State Nittany Lions (like me), let this serve as a wake-up call.

It was a simple rout for the no. 10 seed Nittany Lions, who knocked down 13 three-pointers in the victory. Andrew Funk had eight of them, scoring 27 points. And Jalen Pickett had 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Prior to FDU's victory on Friday, another First Four participant in Pitt picked up the upset, knocking off no. 6 seed Iowa State, 59-41. It wasn't the prettiest of games for the Panthers, who raced out to a 22-2 lead. The Cyclones were the lead to five but shot only 23.3 percent from the field and Pitt pulled away late.

Upcoming games for double-digit seeds

The five remaining double-digit seeds will look to advance to the Sweet 16, with three teams taking the court on Saturday and two on Sunday.

  • #13 Furman Paladins vs #5 San Diego State Aztecs 3/18 @ 12:10 pm (ET) CBS
  • #15 Princeton Tigers vs #7 Missouri Tigers 3/18 @ 6:10 pm (ET) TNT
  • #10 Penn State Nittany Lions vs #2 Texas Longhorns 3/18 @ 7:45 pm (ET) CBS
  • #11 Pitt Panthers vs #3 Xavier Musketeers 3/19 TBD 
  • #16 Fairleigh Dickinson Knights vs #9 Florida Atlantic Owls 3/19 TBD 

photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

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