Purdue still processing shocking loss to Fairleigh Dickinson

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WISH) — The Purdue Boilermakers are already back home in West Lafayette after a shocking loss on Friday to the 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

The loss came as a disappointing ending to one of the most promising seasons for the Boilers. Many thought this team would be lucky to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but after winning both the regular season and tournament titles in the Big Ten, Purdue was poised to make a deep run as the No. 1 seed.

The Boilers’ locker room was in a state of shock after the 63-58 loss.

Junior guard Ethan Morton said, “If we play them 10 times, I like our chances seven or eight times out of 10. Today happened to be one of those days … We didn’t make enough shots. But that’s all (expletive) aside from the fact that they just played better than us. They deserved to win … It sucks to say that for the year that we’ve had, but that’s what happened today.”

Big Ten Player of the Year, Zach Edey, says he couldn’t begin to describe what he was feeling.

Edey said it was like, ” … every negative emotion you can think of. Anger, sadness, stress. We couldn’t get it done today, but I’m just so proud of this team. I’m so proud of everything we’ve done this year. It just sucks it had to end this way.”

Junior guard Brandon Newman says that losses like this “sting”, and will for a long time. Newman said, “No one is going to forget this – in this locker room or on the outside.”