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Introducing Cinderella: Meet the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights

Darian Anderson

Fairleigh Dickinson’s Darian Anderson (2) reacts as Wagner’s Aaren Edmead (1) looks away after Anders scored during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Northeast Conference tournament, Tuesday, March 8, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

AP

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.