The San Diego State Aztecs, who face the North Carolina Tar Heels in an NCAA play-in game in Dayton, Ohio, have been knocked out of the NCAA tournament in each of the past two years by UConn.

UC San Diego (20-15), the winners of the Big West Tournament, were seeded 16th in the West Region. The Tritons will meet Southern University (20-14) in a play-in game at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus at 7 p.m. Wednesday. If the Tritons win that game, they will play No. 1 seed and No. 1 ranked UCLA (30-2) Friday on the Bruins’ court.

For nearly 48 hours, the North Carolina men’s basketball team had to await its NCAA Tournament fate. After losing to Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinal round Friday night, UNC (22-13) still sat firmly on the proverbial bubble,