March Madness: Fairleigh Dickinson stuns No. 1 seed Purdue

COLUMBUS, Ohio  — Fairleigh Dickinson became the second No. 16 seed in history to win an NCAA Tournament game, stunning the East Region’s 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 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.

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 before FDU’s shocker.

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 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 in the Sweet 16 last year.

MICHIGAN STATE 72, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 62: Joey Hauser scored 17 points and No. 7 seed Michigan State clamped down defensively on No. 10 seed Southern California in the second half. Michigan State ramped up its defensive intensity after halftime to muzzle the streaky Trojans, who were knocked out in the tournament’s first round for the second straight year.

Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins added 12 points apiece for Michigan State, which struggled from the free-throw line while trying to close out the game. Joshua Morgan scored 14 points and Kobe Johnson 13 to lead USC.

MARQUETTE 78, VERMONT 61: Kam Jones scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half as second-seeded Marquette beat No. 15 Vermont.

Oso Ighodaro had 14 and David Joplin 12 as Marquette pulled away in the last 10 minutes and cruised to the rout. Dylan Penn, Matt Veretto and Robin Duncan each had 11 points for Vermont.

KENTUCKY 61, PROVIDENCE 53: Antonio Reeves scored 22 points and Oscar Tshiebwe pulled down 25 rebounds in an overpowering display, helping Kentucky beat Providence. Tshiebwe’s rebounding work was the second most in the tournament since 1973. Eleven of his rebounds came on the offensive glass to help the sixth-seeded Wildcats stay in control.

Reeves hit five 3-pointers to lead the offense, while Jacob Toppin had his own big game with 18 points. Ed Croswell had 16 points for Providence, while Bryce Hopkins managed seven points on 2-for-9 shooting against his former Kentucky team.

XAVIER 72, KENNESAW STATE 67: 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 to escape with a victory.

Souley Boum hit four clinching free throws in the final 2.6 seconds for the third-seeded Musketeers, 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 in the program’s first-ever March Madness game.

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

PITTSBURGH 59, IOWA STATE 41: Nelly Cummings scored 13 points and No. 11 seed Pittsburgh shut down sixth-seeded Iowa State. The Cyclones were held to just 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 Iowa State, which had three stretches where the team missed at least eight consecutive shots.

Gabe Kalscheur and Jaren Holmes each had 12 points for the Cyclones.

MIAMI 63, DRAKE 56: Nijel Pack scored 21 points to rally No. 5 seeded Miami past Drake. The Hurricanes scored the final 10 points, just barely getting out of the first round only a year after reaching the Elite Eight.

Norchad Omier added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Hurricanes, who won despite being held to a season-low in points. Darnell Brodie had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Drake.

BAYLOR 74, UC SANTA BARBARA 56: Caleb Lohner scored a season-best 13 points in just 18 minutes, and the No. 3 seed Bears beat 14th-seeded UC Santa Barbara. Lohner’s only other double-digit performance since transferring from BYU to Baylor for this season came back in November when he scored 11 against Virginia.

Adam Flagler led the Bears with 18 points and LJ Cryer scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half. Miles Norris led the Gauchos with 15 points. Ajay Mitchell added 13.

CREIGHTON 72, NC STATE 63: 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 10 rebounds. Terquavion Smith led the Wolfpack with 32 points.

SAINT MARY’S 63, VCU 51: Mitchell Saxen had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and Saint Mary’s beat ailing VCU.

Alex Ducas also scored 17 points, and Logan Johnson added 12 points and 10 rebounds as the as the fifth-seeded Gaels advanced to the second round for the second straight year.

Ace Baldwin led VCU with 13 points, but he hurt his Achilles tendon and groin after taking a jumper with just over 14 minutes left in regulation.

CONNECTICUT 87, IONA 63: 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 Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels. The Huskies lost in the first round under coach Dan Hurley the last two seasons.

Iona had its 14-game winning streak snapped as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions didn’t have the depth to keep up with one of the Big East’s best for 40 minutes. Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gaels with 14 points.

GONZAGA 82, GRAND CANYON 70: Slow-starting Gonzaga finally started playing like a title contender, then wore out Grand Canyon 8 behind 28 points and 10 rebounds from Julian Strawther.

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

Ray Harrison led Grand Canyon with 20 points