SALT LAKE CITY, Utah. – Fresh off of making program history on Tuesday night, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball returns to the floor on Thursday to square off with West Region No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament First Round at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

The Knights (21-13), who defeated fellow 16-seed Prairie View A&M in Dayton on Tuesday night to earn the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win, will look to pull off the upset on Thursday against the top-seeded Bulldogs (30-3).
 
The winner of Thursday's game will advance to take on the winner of the No. 8 Syracuse and No. 9 Baylor matchup in Saturday's Second Round.

Game 35
#16 Fairleigh Dickinson (21-13, 12-6 NEC)
vs. #1 Gonzaga (30-3, 16-0 WCC)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 7:27 p.m. (EDT)
Location: Vivint Smart Home Arena (Salt Lake City, Utah.)
Coverage:  truTV
Talent: Andrew Catalan, Steve Lappas and Lisa Byington
 
Keep up with all of the latest videos/content from the Knights' NCAA Tournament experience
Fairleigh Dickinson Men's Basketball Content Page

Opening Tip

• The Knights won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game (70-year history) by defeating Prairie View A&M on Tuesday night. This season, the team earned its second NEC Championship in the last four seasons and nabbed a share of the NEC Regular Season title for the first time since 2006.
• Making its sixth-ever NCAA tournament appearance, FDU improved to 1-5 all-time. The Knights last appearance came in 2016 as they made it to the dance with the third-youngest team in the nation.
• STREAKING! The Knights have won (9) games in a row..(15) of their last (17)..also have a (6)-game and (3)-game win streak this season.
•  All five Knights starters are averaging double figures in points this season. They are one of only four NCAA Tournament teams (Georgia St., St. John's and Tennessee) to boast five scorers at 10+ points per game.
• The Knights led the NEC in FG% (48.0%), 3-PT FG% (40.5%), scoring margin (4.2), Assist/Turnover ratio (1.1), steals (7.7) and turnover margin (1.1). Their 40.5 percent clip from behind the arc is fifth in the nation and their 48.0 percent field-goal percentage is 26^th.
• All-NEC First Teamer, Darnell Edge led the NEC in both 3-pt FG% (46.9%) and FT% (88.5%). His 46.9 percent three-point clip is fourth best in the nation. He's also first in career free throw shooting among active players in the NCAA (91.6%) and became the program's all-time leading 3-point shooter last game (200 career 3-pt FG).
• In the win over Prairie View, Edge scored a career-high 33 points on 7-of-9 from 3-pt FG. Holloway and Kaleb Bishop each double-doubled, while Jahlil Jenkins scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half. As a team, the Burgundy and Blue shot 54% overall and 68% in the second half (17-of-25).
• Seniors Edge (All-NEC First Team) and Mike Holloway (All-NEC Second Team) book-ended their careers with NEC Championships. Edge was named this year's NEC Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
• FDU assistant coach Pete Lappas' father Steve will be on the TV broadcast for Thursday's game.
• This season, the Knights are 18-0 when leading with five minutes to play in regulation.
• The Knights' five starters have accounted for all 167 points over the last two games.

Postseason Notes

• The Knights earned a share of the NEC Regular Season title for the first time since 2006 and enter this season's conference tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Burgundy and Blue have now qualified for the NEC's postseason in five of Head Coach Greg Herenda's six seasons.
• Fairleigh Dickinson is 7-3 in NEC playoff games under Herenda and 34-25 all-time in the NEC Tournament. They have reached the finals 11 times (6-5).
• FDU has won NEC Tournaments in 1985, 1988, 1998, 2005, 2016 and 2019. The six NEC Tournament championships are tied for second all-time with LIU and behind Robert Morris' eight titles.
• In the NEC championship game win over SFU, the Knights shot a season-high 63.9 percent from the field.
• In the win over SFU, Edge, Bishop and Jenkins each scored 20+ points. It is the first time this season the Knights have registered three 20-point scorers in a game.

FDU in the NCAA Tournament (W-L: 1-5)

• 1985 Southeast Regional: #1 Michigan 59, #16 Fairleigh Dickinson 55
• 1988 Midwest Regional: #1 Purdue 94, #16 Fairleigh Dickinson 79
• 1998 Midwest Regional: #2 Connecticut 93, #15 Fairleigh Dickinson 85
• 2005 Chicago Regional: #1 Illinois 67, #16 Fairleigh Dickinson 55
• 2016 East Regional: #16 FGCU 96, #16 Fairleigh Dickinson 65
• 2019 West Regional: #16 FDU 82, #16 Prairie View A&M 76

The Series
This is the first-ever meeting between the Knights and Bulldogs
 
The Coaches

• Head Coach Greg Herenda is in his sixth season at the helm of the Knights. Last season, the Knights enjoyed their third consecutive .500 or better season in NEC play as Herenda led the team to a 9-9 conference mark. Under Herenda, the Knights have qualified for the NEC Tournament in four of his five seasons, including a 2016 NEC Championship when the team earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament featuring the third-youngest team in the nation. With a 7-3 NEC Tournament mark and an 8-4 overall postseason record, Coach Herenda leads all NEC coaches in postseason winning percentage. This season, the Knights' sixth-year leader earned career win No. 200.
• Mark Few is in his 19^th season and the team has won or shared 17 regular season league titles in his 19 seasons and taken home the conference tournament championship 15 times. The Oregon native began his coaching career as an assistant (1986-88) in his hometown Creswell before eventually joining Gonzaga as a graduate assistant in 1990. He ascended to assistant coach in 1992 before taking over at the helm in 1999.

Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament (W-L: 31-21)
Gonzaga is making its 21^st consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearance and 22^nd overall. The 21 straight berths to the field is the fourth-longest current streak in the nation (Kansas, Duke, Michigan State). 

Scouting Gonzaga
The Zags are 31-21 all-time in 21 previous NCAA Tournament appearances with nine trips to the Sweet 16, three trips to the Elite Eight, one Final Four and an appearance in one national championship game. The Bulldogs receive a one-seed for the third time in program history. Gonzaga has been in Salt Lake City in each of those three occasions. The Zags are first in the nation in field goal percentage (53.2), scoring margin (23.8), scoring offense (88.8), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.76). The team's three losses this season came to Tennessee, North Carolina and Saint Mary's. Despite an unblemished regular-season record in West Coast Conference action, the Bulldogs dropped their conference championship game to Saint Mary's (60-47) and were held to a season-low 47 points. The team's leader this season has been junior Rui Hachimura, who is one of four finalists for the Citizen Naismith Trophy National Player of the Year Award.  Hachimura, the WCC Player of the Year, is third in the conference averaging 20.1 points per game. He is sixth in the league shooting 60.9 percent from the field and eighth grabbing 6.6 rebounds per game. Along with junior forward Brandon Clarke, the Zags front court duo has been efficient offensively all season long. Clarke averages 16.5 points on 69.1 percent shooting and leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per contest to go along with over three blocks per game.

Knights Last Time Out
The Knights defeated fellow 16-seed Prairie View A&M 82-76 in the First Four round of the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night at University of Dayton arena.
Senior guard Darnell Edge paced the Knights with a career-high 33 points in the contest on 9-of-13 from the field, including 7-of-9 from three-point range. With his first of seven 3-pointers in the game, the Saugerties, N.Y. native became the Knights' all-time leader in 3-pointers made with 194 for his career.

Sophomore Jahlil Jenkins scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to go along with six assists and four rebounds, while junior Kaleb Bishop and senior Mike Holloway Jr. each double-doubled. The duo each scored 10 points, while Holloway corralled 14 rebounds and Bishop nabbed 11.

The Burgundy and Blue shot 68 percent (17-of-25) in the second half and weathered 15 3-pointers by the Panthers, who led by seven at intermission.

The Panthers (22-13) nailed 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) from behind the arc led by Gary Blackson's 27-point effort. Chancellor Ellis came off of the bench and scored 12 on 4-of-6 from deep.

Coach Herenda's Postgame Thoughts
"Our guys made history tonight and I have never been around a group that deserved it more," said head coach Greg Herenda following the historic win. "The perseverance, grit and heart that we played with tonight was truly incredible. Darnell played like a possessed man the entire night and Jahlil had a second half performance that will be remembered forever. It was a night, no pun intended, for the ages."

"Obviously we did not have the first half that we anticipated but everyone had the same feeling all night long. We all felt that we would right the ship and eventually we did just that. Mike, Kaleb and Elyjah were awesome on the glass but ultimately that might have been one of the best guard combo performances that I have ever coached."

"Our fan bus crew, our cheerleaders and everyone that made the trek to Dayton were awesome. They all never gave up on us and I cannot tell you how much that meant to our team. At the end of the game, we owned that building."
 
Up Next
The winner of Thursday's game faces off with the winner of the #8 Syracuse/#9 Baylor game on Saturday night in round two.