Conference: NEC
Coach: Greg Herenda
Record: 18-14, 11-7
Ratings and Rankings:
– Kenpom: 272
– RPI: 223
– AP/USA Today: Not ranked
Seeding: FDU is almost guaranteed to be a No. 16 seed in the tournament. There a decent chance that they’ll end up in the play-in game.
Names you need to know: Darion Anderson is the big name for FDU, and he played like it on Tuesday night, scoring 28 points in the bid-clinching win. Anderson averaged 15.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Earl Potts Jr. has also been good this season.
Stats you need to know: FDU is awful defensively. Terrible. They are, quite literally, one of the 15 worst defensive teams in college basketball, according to KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric.
Big wins, bad losses: The Knights didn’t beat a single team ranked in the top 150 of the RPI. Their best win on the season? Towson.
How’d they get here?: FDU advanced to the NCAA tournament on Tuesday night with an 87-79 win at top-seeded Wagner. That came after the Knights finished tied for second in the NEC regular season.
Outlook: FDU has a chance to win a game in the NCAA tournament this season ... because there is a good chance that they could end up playing in the play-in game. I can’t see FDU being the team that picks off a No. 1 seed.
How do I know you?: This is the fifth time since 1985 that the Knights have reached the NCAA tournament, but just the second time they’ve gone dancing since 1998.