After an emotional rollercoaster of a week, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team on Sunday learned the key details about what awaits them this week.
In the final matchup revealed during the live NCAA Tournament Selection Show, Long Beach State learned it is headed to Salt Lake City, where the team and outgoing head coach Dan Monson are sure to become a high-profile storyline for the rest of the week.
LBSU (21-14) received a No. 15 seed and will face No. 2 seed Arizona (25-8) in a first-round game of the West Regional on Thursday, with the time to be announced. Arizona was the Pac-12 regular-season champion before losing to Oregon in a Pac-12 Tournament semifinal on Friday night.
The winner of that game would face either No. 7 seed Dayton (24-7) or No. 10 seed Nevada (26-7) in a second-round game on Saturday, also in Salt Lake City. The West Region semifinals and final will be played the following week at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. North Carolina (27-7) is the top seed in the region.
Last Monday, Monson and LBSU agreed to part ways at the end of the season. But the team, which finished the regular season on a five-game losing streak, won three games in three days to win the Big West Tournament title, capped by its 74-70 victory over No. 2 seed UC Davis on Saturday night in Henderson, Nevada.
Long Beach is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament but its first since 2012, when it lost a first-round game to New Mexico. LBSU has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 1973.
Much more to come on this story.
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