North Carolina Central vs North Dakota State 3/20/19 - NCAAB Picks & Predictions

North Carolina Central won its third straight MEAC title Sunday and will face North Dakota State Wednesday to win the outright 16th seed in the East. The winner gets overall No 1 seed Duke in the next round. The teams have some similarities even as they are half a country apart. Both teams have 18-12 records and both teams won their conference tournaments. They both finished third in the regular season in their conference.

North Dakota State will be going to the big dance for the third time in the last six years. This will be the fourth consecutive trip for North Carolina Central.

The Bison of North Dakota State won the Summit League championship last week. the Bison has won its last four and is 9-3 over its last 12 games. North Dakota State is led by Vinnie Shahid at 12.8 points per game and Tyson Ward is averaging 12.3. The Bison have made 315 three-pointers. Jared Samuelson has made 64 and Shahid has 60. Two more players have 40 or more. They are shooting 36 percent behind the arc and 45 overall.

North Carolina Central has won the last three games and six of the last seven. The last two were decided by a single basket.

Raasean Davis leads NC Central with 14.6 points and 8.9 rebounds. Jibri Blount is averaging 10.5 points. The Eagles have 212 three-pointers and shoot 32 percent from there. The Eagles are more inside-oriented and shoot 46 percent inside the arc.