DURHAM, N.C. - North Carolina Central University will make its third NCAA Division-I Men's Basketball Tournament appearance on Wednesday, March 14 when the Eagles face Texas Southern at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio in the First Four.  The winner of this game will move on to face No. 1 seed Xavier in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, March 16.

GAME NOTES
2017-18 NCAA Tournament
North Carolina Central (19-15, 9-7 MEAC)
Vs.
Texas Southern (15-19, 12-6 SWAC)
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 – 6:40 p.m.
UD Arena – Dayton, Ohio
Audio: Westwood One
Video: truTV
Stats: NCAA.com
 
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
 
STARTING FIVE:
1. Head coach LeVelle Moton has now won 171 games at NCCU, and has passed Gregory Jackson for the third-most wins all time at NCCU.
2. NCCU has now won over 1200 games in the 84th season of the program history.
3. The Eagles have one NCAA Division-II National Championship, defeating Southeast Missouri State 73-45 in 1989.
4. Coach Moton is 95-34 all-time in regular season MEAC play.
5. NCCU is 12-4 in the MEAC Tournament under Moton with three titles.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Texas Southern makes its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five years as the champion of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, this year defeating top-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff 84-69.  The Tigers enter the NCAA Tournament with a 15-19 overall record, and went 12-6 in league play within the SWAC.  TSU is led by the electric Demontrae Jefferson who averages 23.4 points and 4.5 assists per game, and also shoots 39.4 percent from the perimeter.  Donte Clark also plays a big role with 18.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.  In the championship game against UAPB, Jefferson contributed 15 points with six rebounds and seven assists, followed by Clark with 14 points and six assists.  Derrick Bruce also stepped in with 13 points and six assists.
 
THREE IN FIVE
NCCU makes its third NCAA Tournament appearance within the last five years, and the Eagles are still on the hunt for their first win.  NCCU's first trip was as a No. 14 seed against Iowa State, and the Eagles were defeated 93-75 during the 2014 tournament.  Last year, the Eagles also went to Dayton for the First Four and were felled by UC Davis, 67-63.
 
BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS
For the first time in the Division-I era, NCCU has captured back-to-back MEAC Tournament championships, and will head to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years.  This is also the first time the Eagles have won the tournament without being the No. 1 seed, winning the tournament as the No. 6 seed for the first time since Hampton in 2015.  The Eagles are also the first back-to-back MEAC Tournament champion since Hampton in 2015 and 2016.
 
FORWARD POWER
Senior forward Pablo Rivas was named Most Outstanding Performer of the 2018 MEAC Tournament, and redshirt junior Raasean Davis joined him on the All-Tournament Team.  Head coach LeVelle Moton also gained recognition as the Most Outstanding Coach of the tourney.  Rivas averaged 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, and swatted three shots with five steals over four games, and Davis averaged a double-double with 12.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per contest.
 
20-22-22
Raasean Davis made an impact in NCCU's quarterfinal win over Savannah State when he pulled down 20 rebounds, the first 20-rebound performance since David Covington brought down 21 boards against Wingate on Dec. 5, 2001.  Davis had nine offensive rebounds and 11 defensive boards, and went on to score 22 points by going 10-for-13 from the floor in the semifinal against Morgan State.  Not to be outdone, Pablo Rivas poured in 22 points in the championship game against Hampton.
 
FREE THROWS WIN BALLGAMES
Pablo Rivas has been exceptionally accurate from the free throw line recently, as he went 11-for-11 from the charity stripe during the MEAC Tournament, and has made his last 14 attempts.  This streak began in the second half at South Carolina State on Feb. 24.  Rivas leads the Eagles in free-throw shooting, knocking down 76.4 percent of his attempts.
 
NCAA STATS TOP-25
NCCU as a team is ranked top-25 in the NCAA Division-I in total assists with 535, and total rebounds with 1,293.  Individually, Raasean Davis is ranked fifth in the nation in field-goal percentage at 66.7 percent, and Perkins falls just outside the top-25 in total assists with 184 to rank 27th.
 
ALL-MEAC TRIO
For the second consecutive year, North Carolina Central University has had multiple players earn Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference honors as Raasean Davis was named Second Team, and both Reggie Gardner, Jr.  and Jordan Perkins were named All-Rookie.  Davis led the Eagles in scoring with 15.4 points and finished ninth in the MEAC in that category, along with eight double-doubles.  Gardner finished the regular season eighth in threes made per game at a rate of 2.2 with 67 made during his freshman campaign along with 11.0 points per game.  Perkins ran the point and finished third in the league with 5.4 assists per game and was second with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
TRIPLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
NCCU accomplished a rare feat of having three players record a double-double on the road at Bethune-Cookman on Feb. 12.  Jordan Perkins recorded his first career double-double in that game with 17 points and a game-high 10 assists, and Raasean Davis collected a game-high 26 points with 11 rebounds.  Pablo Rivas completed the trio with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
 
FREE BASKETBALL
NCCU played an overtime game for the first time since the 2015-16 season when the Eagles fell 84-78 at Howard.  Under Moton, the Eagles are 7-4 in games that go to an extra frame, and 3-3 against MEAC opponents in overtime.
 
NCCU vs SWAC
The Southwestern Athletic Conference has 10 member institutions, and while NCCU has only played four teams in the Division I era, it holds a 4-2 record against the conference.  Below is a recap of NCCU's matchups with the conference.
11/29/08........................ vs Jackson State^              49-69 L
12/20/14........................ at MVSU 94-60 W
12/22/14........................ at Jackson State 67-64 W-OT
12/3/15.......................... vs MVSU 86-79 W
12/21/15........................ vs Southern& 63-68 L
11/18/16........................ vs Jackson State 84-75 W
11/19/17........................ vs Southern 80-67 W
^South Padre Island Invitational
&Global Sports Classic (Las Vegas, Nev.)
 
NEXT MAN UP
NCCU is one of less than 10 schools that returns zero starters from its previous season.  The Eagles bring back the second-fewest starts in the nation with 11, all coming from C.J. Wiggins, and the third-fewest total minutes with 862, 626 of which came from Pablo Rivas.