Zach Edey, Purdue Presents Next Challenge for Fairleigh Dickinson in NCAA Tournament
Fairleigh Dickinson, the smallest team in the NCAA Tournament field, earned the No. 16 seed in the East region with an 84-61 win over Texas Southern at UD Arena on Wednesday night.
The victory pits the team against No. 1 seed Purdue, led by the 7-foot-4 consensus first-team All-American center Zach Edey, in the first round. The matchup is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. ET on Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Edey's combination of size and skill will be like nothing the Knights have seen so far, but they'll use their First Four success as fuel heading into the program's toughest task to date.
"I think it's very important that we have a lot of experience, because without the experience — and if you just go into it blind — you don't know what to expect," Fairleigh Dickinson junior guard Joe Munden Jr. said. "But being that we have a little bit of knowledge under our belt and we know what to expect, if we go out there, we can compete."
Capitalizing on a five-out motion offense and a suffocating full-court press, Fairleigh Dickinson dominated Texas Southern right from the jump. The Knights never trailed in the matchup and their high-scoring capabilities were on full display.
They entered the game scoring an average of 77.8 points per contest, which ranked 42nd in the country. The team shot 11-of-27 from the 3-point line, which accounted for more than half of its attempts from the field.
Fairleigh Dickinson had all five of its starters score in double figures, combining for 78 points. By coupling that with a 32-31 rebounding advantage, Texas Southern had no chance of clawing its way back from an early double-digit deficit.
"I feel like we can compete with anybody," Fairleigh Dickinson senior guard Grant Singleton said. "Knowing that we played such a tough team tonight. If we game plan like we did tonight, it will be easier for us going forward."
The Boilermakers will take the floor with a 29-5 overall record, which includes a five-game win streak during the month of March. Victories over West Virginia, Gonzaga, Duke and Marquette in the team's nonconference schedule kickstarted one of the best starts to a season in program history.
Purdue, which spent several weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25, claimed its 25th Big Ten regular-season title by going 15-5 in league play and added a Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament championship game win to begin the postseason.
"I've watched Purdue play," Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tobin Anderson said. "I think Matt Painter is one of the best coaches anywhere. He's incredible. We run a motion offense. A lot of stuff we get is from Purdue, how they play."
But unlike the Boilermakers, the Knights don't have a player quite like Edey to lean on. The junior center is putting up 22.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game while shooting 60.6 percent from the field.
Fairleigh Dickinson sophomore forward Ansley Almonor is the team's tallest starter, standing at 6-foot-6 and 219 pounds. He was the team's leading scorer against Texas Southern with 23 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
All five of his baskets came from the 3-point line, which puts Edey at a disadvantage away from the rim. However, Almonor and the rest of the Knights will also be tasked with trying to slow down Edey on the other end of the court.
"I never met anybody who was 7-4," Almonor said. "I'll try to see it, try to get into his legs a little bit because tall guys don't like when people get into their legs. So I'll just take it one step at a time. We're going to scout him and go from there."
Edey has been a matchup nightmare for several teams across college basketball this season. He's scored in double figures in every game for Purdue this season while notching 26 double-doubles.
Fairleigh Dickinson is next in line to stand in the way of Edey and the Boilermakers, and the Knights know full well the challenge that awaits them in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
"He's a special guy because he's not just a big guy," Anderson said of Edey. "He can play, he's got great hands. He knows how to play. It's going to be a tall, tall task for us on Friday night."
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- Tobin Anderson Says Fairleigh Dickinson Can Beat Purdue: Following Fairleigh Dickinson's 84-61 win over Texas Southern, coach Tobin Anderson shared his confidence in the team's chances of beating No. 1 seed Purdue on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE
- Fairleigh Dickinson Routs Texas Southern 84-61: Sophomore forward Ansley Almonor scored 23 points to lead Fairleigh Dickinson's high-scoring offense in an 84-61 win against Texas Southern on Wednesday. The Knights move on to play No. 1 seed Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE
- Takeaways From Fairleigh Dickinson's Win Over Texas Southern: Fairleigh Dickinson defeated fellow 16-seed Texas Southern 84-61 on Wednesday in the First Four round at the University of Dayton Arena. The Knights advance to the Round of 64, where they'll play the No. 1 seed Purdue Boilermakers. Here are three takeaways from Fairleigh Dickinson's win. CLICK HERE
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.