Demontrae Jefferson leads Tigers in First Four win

By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher

One day after the Radford Highlanders won their first NCAA Tournament game, the Texas Southern Tigers also their first tournament game. They defeated the North Carolina Central Eagles, 64-46, on Wednesday night at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

The Tigers won their First Four game to improve to 16-19 on the season. Texas Southern, who lost their first 13 games, will face the Xavier Musketeers on Friday at 7:20 pm EST at Bridgestone Arena In Nashville, Tennessee.

Texas Southern Tigers basketball player Demontrae Jefferson dribbles as Brandon Goldsmith defends against the North Carolina Central Eagles in the first half during the First Four of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament — Demontrae Jefferson dribbles as Brandon Goldsmith defends against the North Carolina Central Eagles in the first half during the First Four of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

It’s the matchup of No. 16 in Texas Southern and No. 1 in Xavier. No. 16 team has ever defeated a No. 1 team in the NCAA Tournament history.

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Tigers Head Coach Mike Davis, whose in his sixth season at the school, is in the tournament for the second straight year — and fourth overall at the Texas school. Prior to Wednesday’s game, they were 0-7 in the NCAA Tournament.

The Eagles ended their season with a 19-16 record.

Demontrae Jefferson led the Tigers with 25 points. He also had eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Jefferson was one of three TSU players, who scored in double-figures. Donte Clark added 18 points, while Trayvon Reed contributed 10 points.

Reed had all of their bench points.

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Raesean Davis led the Eagles with 19 points. He also had 11 rebound and two blocks.

NC Central had 19 bench points. Pablo Rivas led the bench players with seven points.

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