Last Updated on May 27, 2023
After winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, North Carolina Central University now knows its fate in the NCAA Tournament as the Eagles were selected as a 14-seed in the East Region and will battle the third seeded Cyclones of Iowa State on Friday night at approximately 9:00 p.m. (CT) from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
The Eagles enter the NCAA field of 68 winners of 20-straight contests and have tied for the most wins in a single season in school history, tying the 1989 NCAA Division II National Championship team who went 28-4 and the legendary John McLendon's 1950-51 team that finished 28-5.
NCCU clinched its first berth into the NCAA Tournament at the NCAA Division I level on Saturday, March 15 with a 71-62 win over Morgan State inside the Norfolk Scope Arena.
The Eagles have only faced two Big 12 Conference opponents (Kansas State and Oklahoma). NCCU dropped a 95-49 contests on Feb. 17, 2009 to Kansas State, and gave the University of Oklahoma fits falling to the Sooners in overtime (71-63) on Nov. 15, 2010.
NCCU enters the NCAA Tournament with an impressive resume that includes a win against the No. 12-seed in the Midwest region, Wolfpack of NC State, on Nov. 20 (82-72), and a number of close loses to the No. 5-seed in the East Region Bearcats of Cincinnati (74-61) on Nov. 8, and lost to the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, Wichita State (77-66) on Dec. 22.
WATCH: NCCU Reacts to First Ever NCAA Selection
Not to be forgotten, for the second straight season, the maroon and gray finished 15-1 in the MEAC to run away with the regular season crown and recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1996-1997 campaign.
The game will be broadcast live on TNT as the all-star trio of Marv Albert (Play-by-play), Steve Kerr (Color Analyst), and Craig Sager (sideline) will be on the call for the final game of the night in San Antonio.
For more information about NCCU athletics, visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com or download the NCCU Sports Network app available in the App Store, Google Play and Amazon.
