NCCU Eagles Will Meet Texas Southern Tigers in First Four

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – North Carolina Central University will make its second-straight appearance in the First Four and will face Texas Southern on Wednesday, March 13 at 6:40 p.m. ET on TruTV at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. 
 
NCCU (19-15) went to the First Four last season to face UC Davis, and were narrowly defeated, 67-63.  This year, the Eagles will face Texas Southern (15-19) for the first time in program history.

2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Official Bracket

This is the Eagles' third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history during the Division-I era, all within the past five years.  NCCU's first NCAA Tournament appearance was after the 2013-14 season when the Eagles were MEAC regular season and tournament champions.  NCCU also made an NIT appearance against Miami after the 2014-15 season where the Eagles also won the MEAC regular season and tournament championship.

Texas Southern are the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and defeated top-seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the championship game, 84-69.

The winner of this game will move on to play No. 1 seed Xavier in the West Region in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, March 16.

Matchup Preview 

Leading scorers
Texas Southern: Demontrae Jefferson (23.4 ppg), Donte Clark (18.6 ppg), Derrick Bruce (13.9 ppg)
N.C. Central: Raasean Davis (15.0 ppg), Pablo Rivas (11.8 ppg), Reggie Gardner Jr. (11.2 ppg)

Leading rebounder
Texas Southern: Trayvon Reed (8.8 rpg)
N.C. Central: Davis (8.0 rpg)

Leader in assists
Texas Southern: Jefferson (4.5 apg)
N.C. Central: Jordan Perkins (5.4 apg)

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATION