Long Beach State To Play Arizona In NCAA Tournament

LONG BEACH, CA — The Long Beach State men's basketball team will play Arizona on Thursday in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, it was announced Sunday.

LBSU was seeded 15th in the West Region and will be heavy underdogs against the second-seeded Wildcats.

LBSU punched its ticket to the Big Dance with a 74-70 victory over UC Davis in Saturday's Big West Conference Tournament championship game. The Beach defeated regular-season Big West champion UC Irvine on Friday, 83-79.

The Beach finished fifth in the Big West with a 10-10 record and posted a 21-14 overall record.

The team announced last Monday that it was parting ways with head coach Dan Monson after the season, but that Monson would continue coaching the team through the postseason.

The 62-year-old Monson coached LBSU for 17 season, posting a 275-272 record, but he hadn't led LBSU to the NCAA Tournament since the 2011-12 season, when the Beach lost in the first round.
Monson told ESPN on Saturday that he hoped to continue his coaching career.

"I don't think this is my last," Monson said. "I love coaching, I love teams. I need a new challenge. It's life, on to the next chapter."

Arizona was 25-8 this season and lost to Oregon, 67-59, Friday in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Long Beach State and San Diego State are the only two Southern California schools to make the men's NCAA Tournament this year, after UCLA and USC both finished with losing records. The Aztecs will play the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Spokane, Washington, on Friday.