ANAHEIM, Calif. -- UC Davis is going to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.

Brynton Lemar scored 20 points to lead the second-seeded Aggies to a 50-47 victory Saturday night over top-seeded UC Irvine in the Big West championship game.

In the regular-season finale between the teams a week ago, UC Irvine routed UC Davis 79-49. What a difference seven days can make.

This matchup was very much like a home game for UC Irvine (21-14) because its campus is only 15 miles from the Honda Center. But the Anteaters were cold from the field at the start, and Luke Nelson, the Big West Player of the Year, couldn't get on track. Nelson finished with a team-high 14 points.

UC Davis (22-12) transitioned to Division I in 2004 and joined the Big West in 2007. A decade later, the Aggies are in the NCAA tournament.

UC Irvine scored just 16 points in the first half and shot only 6-of-23 (26 percent). The Anteaters took the lead in the second half, but UC Davis made the key plays down the stretch to win.

BIG PICTURE

UC Davis, an agricultural school, will gain publicity all over the country for basketball when its name pops up in NCAA tournament brackets for the first time Sunday.

UC Irvine will be dwelling over all the missed shots and adjustments it failed to make after beating the same team by 30 points a week ago.

UP NEXT

UC Davis is headed to the NCAA tournament and will feature good-shooting guards and a shot-blocker and rebounding machine in Chima Moneke.

UC Irvine, by virtue of winning the Big West regular-season title, gets an automatic bid to the NIT.