NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL VS. UC DAVIS

■ Who: North Carolina Central (25-8) vs. UC Davis (22-12) ■ Where: Dayton, Ohio ■ What: NCAA Tournament First Four game ■ When: 3:40 p.m. PT Wednesday ■ TV: truTV ■ Line: North Carolina Central -3½; total 131½

■ Storyline: Big West champion UC Davis makes its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday night when the Aggies take on North Carolina Central. UC Davis, which finished its transition to Division I in 2007, has won six of its last seven games, while the Eagles took the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament to make the NCAAs for the second time and the winner of the 16th-seed matchup faces top-seeded Kansas in the first round of the Midwest Regional Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Aggies beat Cal State Fullerton in overtime in the Big West semifinals before holding top seed UC Irvine to 16 points in the first half en route to a 50-47 victory in the conference championship game. North Carolina Central, which lost to Iowa State in its only other appearance 93-75 in 2014, won 13 straight at one point this season and knocked off Missouri as well. Senior guard Patrick Cole leads the way for the Eagles, averaging team highs of 19.5 points and 5.7 assists.

■ North Carolina Central: The Eagles won the MEAC regular-season title by going 13-3 with just two players scoring more than 10 points per game. Cole, who also averages seven rebounds, was named Most Outstanding Player of the MEAC tournament and senior guard Dajuan Graf averages 14.3 points and 5.2 assists overall to add support.

■ UC Davis: Junior forward Chima Moneke (14.4 points, 9.4 rebounds) was named Big West tournament Most Valuable Player, while leading scorer Brynton Lemar (16.1 points), a senior guard, scored 20 in the final. Sophomore guard Siler Schneider is the only other player averaging in double figures scoring (10.5) and senior guard Darius Graham tops the team in assists (3.2).

■ North Carolina Central 72, UC Davis 64