Donnie Tillman and Tyler Rawson each chipped in 11 points for the second-seeded Utes, who will play host to third-seeded LSU in the second round on Monday. Utah (20-11) earned its first NIT win under coach Larry Krystkowiak, who was ejected in the second quarter.

A.J. John scored 11 points while TJ Shorts II, Siler Schneider and Michael Onyebalu added 10 to lead the Aggies. UC Davis (22-11) led throughout the first three quarters but could not hold on thanks to shooting just 35.7 percent in the second half.

UC Davis took control in the first quarter after the Utes struggled to find a rhythm on offense. Utah shot just 3 of 14 from the field in the opening period.

Bibbins hit a pair of free throws to cut Utah's deficit to 13-11. Arell Hennings answered with back-to-back layups to put the Aggies up 17-11.

Utah endured a long shooting drought in the second quarter, going five minutes without a field goal. UC Davis took advantage and boosted its lead to 31-20 on a jumper from Joe Mooney.

Gabe Bealer and Sedrick Barefield combined for a trio of 3-pointers to help Utah cut the deficit to 33-29 going into halftime.

The Aggies pushed their lead back to double digits early in the third quarter. They went up 39-29 on Colin Russell's layup.

Utah answered with a 19-3 run. The Utes took their first lead on a layup from Tillman. Bibbins finished the run off with a 3-pointer, giving Utah a 56-48 advantage with 5:53 remaining.

UC Davis missed 10 of 11 shots in that stretch to open the door for Utah to mount a rally.

--Field Level Media