DAVIS, Calif. - By participating in a summer international tour, allowed once every four years by the NCAA, UC Davis basketball’s first preseason practice will take place on Aug. 6. With funds raised through outside sources, the Aggies will compete in three games throughout their seven-day excursion through Costa Rica, scheduled for Aug. 20-27. 

Per NCAA rules, UC Davis is allowed to schedule 10 practices prior to departure.

Other schools that have competed against international teams, in recent seasons, include Pacific (France), Cal Poly (France), CSUN (Canada) and Cal State Bakersfield (Bahamas).

All three games will incorporate FIBA rules, which differ slightly from the NCAA’s, with regards to shot clock time (24 seconds instead of 30), game duration (four 10-minute quarters instead of two 20-minute halves), three-point distance (22 feet, 1 inch vs. 20 feet, 9 inches) and the size of the restricted area (16-foot rectangle vs. 12).

UC Davis ended the 2015-16 season with the No. 1 defense in the Big West Conference, limited opponents to 66.0 points per game — the 40th-lowest average in the nation out of 346 Division I teams — and forced opponents to shoot .413 overall and .310 from three (the 22nd-lowest in the NCAA). Those two defensive shooting clips were among a slew of new program records set last year.