COLUMBUS, Ohio — They press on, unafraid.
The coach and his two diminutive fifth-year-senior guards — all three of whom are a year removed from Division II — and the five returning players who were on a 4-22 team a year ago.
Unafraid.
All of them.
So what if the opponent, Purdue, has won 29 of its 34 games, is the Big Ten champion and favored by 25 points in Friday’s 6:50 p.m. NCAA Tournament first-round game?
Fairleigh Dickinson, thoroughly enjoying its March Madness ride, doesn’t give a damn about any of that.
A video from FDU’s postgame celebration following Wednesday night’s First Four win over Texas Southern in which FDU coach Tobin Anderson pumped his players up is proof of the Knights’ moxie.
“I want Purdue to see this,’’ Anderson says to his players. “I walked into breakfast this morning and what did you say to me, Kam [Murrell, one of his assistant coaches]? ‘The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them.’ Let’s go shock the world.’’
Heavy underdogs playing with house money can be dangerous back-yard dogs.
Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tobin Anderson with guard Demetre Roberts during their First Four game against Texas Southern on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.Getty ImagesPurdue found that out the hard way in last year’s NCAA Tournament when it was knocked out by No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the Sweet 16.
So, about the video.
“Yeah, I probably didn’t want that out,’’ Anderson said with a wry smile Thursday. “But … I want our guys to believe. Part of having success is we’ve got to believe we have a chance to win. That is kind of how we think. We believe we’ve got a chance to win.’’
“Listen, they’re the big dogs in this fight,’’ Anderson said of Purdue. “They’re the Big Ten champions, won the Big Ten by four games, one of the best teams in the country. They’re going to come after us. We have to withstand that. We have to take some punches and keep punching and keep fighting. We have to be feisty, gritty, tough, which we have been.’’
Asked if poking the bear with that video was risky, Anderson said, “I don’t think Purdue needs any extra motivation from the standpoint that they lost last year to Saint Peter’s in the NCAA Tournament. They’re trying to win a national championship. I probably gave them a little bit right there. But that will crank us up a little bit. We’ll be more on edge because of that. I told the guys, ‘I’m sorry about that, fellas. We’ll have to back it up.’ ’’
FDU’s seasoned backcourt tandem of Demetre Roberts and Grant Singleton, the 5-foot-8 and 5-9 guards, respectively, Anderson brought with him from St. Thomas Aquinas College, have no problem backing up their coach.
They’ve been doing it for five years now.
Anderson, Roberts and Singleton are now 14-5 together in postseason games, spanning four Division II NCAA tournaments and Wednesday night’s First Four victory.
Fairleigh Dickinson guard Grant Singleton makes a move against Texas Southern on Wednesday. Getty Images“Grant and Demetre know how to win in big situations,’’ Anderson said. “I don’t say a lot to them before the game. When I look in Demetre’s eyes and I see them glazed over, I feel pretty good about what’s going to happen. He looks around, and he thinks he should be here. That’s just how he is. This is not a surprise to him.
“When you’re a 5-8 guard who’s been told all your life that you’re not big enough, from Mount Vernon, New York, growing up that way, you see guys go to Division I, and you don’t think Demetre Roberts is a mid-major Division I guard? He’s a tremendous guard. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody.’’
Nor would he trade Singleton.
They’re a package deal.
“Demetre is the alpha dog,’’ Anderson said. “Demetre is the thermostat. He sets the temperature. When Demetre’s playing well, that kind of brings Grant up. Grant kind of feeds off Demetre. They make each other better. Demetre has scored 2,000 points. Grant has scored 1,500 college points. That’s 3,500 combined college points in all the games they played together.
“How many backcourts at the college level have that experience game-wise, successful game-wise?’’
Anderson will need the best both of them have to offer Friday night.
He was so blown away by how flawlessly his players executed the game plan Wednesday night that he joked about how little he had to coach in the game, how he just stayed out of the way.
“We’ve got to crank it up a notch [Friday] night,’’ Anderson sad. “The best game we can play. … I think it’s still out there for us, but it will have to be [Friday] night. And I do think it’s out there for us.’’
