FDU trying to refocus after ‘life-changing’ win
COLUMBUS, Ohio– The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights confess will not be simple to play Sunday on the heels of producing perhaps the greatest upset in college basketball history.But even after Friday’s” life-changing “success over Purdue– just the second time ever that a No. 16 seed has defeated a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament– the Knights state they want to “keep dancing.”
“It’s tough to top what we did last night,” senior guard Grant Singleton said Saturday. “However we are just attempting to keep a level head, stay humble about the scenario. We have more things to do.”
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The Knights will face ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic, which removed Memphis later Friday night at Nationwide Arena on Nick Boyd’s game-winning layup in the last seconds. The winner will advance to the Sweet 16 and play in Madison Square Garden in New York City City, just a 15-mile drive away from the Fairleigh Dickinson school in Teaneck, New Jersey.
“That would be amazing,” stated first-year FDU coach Tobin Anderson. “I wouldn’t need to fly back to Jersey, I might remove running, like Forrest Gump or something.
“That would be beyond our wildest dreams, a bit like [the movie line from] ‘Hoosiers’ to do that. But we’ve got a lot of operate in front of us.”
It’s already been a dream season for the Knights, who stunned Purdue 63-58 in the program’s very first NCAA tournament victory, not including Wednesday’s play-in win.Entering Friday, 16-seeds were 1-150 in the opening round. Fairleigh Dickinson joined the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, which ended up being the very first males’s 16-seed to beat a No. 1 by knocking off Virginia in 2018. < img height=" 320 "width=" 570 "src=
“https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35890337/”/ > Fairleigh Dickinson’s Joe Munden Jr., No. 1, celebrates his group’s historic upset of top-seed Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Guys’s Basketball Tournament on Friday night. Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
“That whole game has changed everybody on our team– personnel, trainees, everybody who [goes] to Fairleigh Dickinson University,” stated forward Sean Moore, a Columbus native scored a career-high 19 points versus Purdue. “Whatever is various now.”
Anderson joked that he had 1,200 text messages that he hadn’t had the ability to respond to yet. The players included that their phones have been “exploding,” as well.
“Numerous notices,” stated forward Ansley Almonor, who, at 6-foot-6, is the highest player in the rotation for FDU, which has the quickest lineup in Department I college basketball with a typical height of 6-1. “Individuals texting me I have not heard from years. Individuals texting me congrats. … It’s crazy. I have actually never ever experienced anything like that.”
After Wednesday’s play-in win over Texas Southern in Dayton, Anderson was captured on video camera telling his players in the locker space: “Let’s go shock the world” and beat Purdue.He has had another message for the Knights as they attempt to become the very first 16-seed ever to advance to the Sugary food 16.” What we did last night was unique– let’s go do something else that’s special,”he stated.”We have actually got more to do. I do not sense from us any sense of complacency or sense of complete satisfaction. We’re very loose. Focused but loose. … When the ball increases tomorrow night, we’ll be all set to contend. “