Arizona enters the NCAA Tournament looking to make amends for last season when it lost to 15-seed Princeton in the first round. Coach Tommy Lloyd promised that loss would shape his program going forward and now the Wildcats (25-8) have another 15-seed to contend with in Long Beach State.

The Beach (21-14) fired their head coach on March 11 and then made the NCAA Tournament 5 days later. The program’s coach, Dan Monson, led Long Beach State to a Big West Tournament title with 3 wins in 3 days as a lame-duck coach. He joked at a press conference on Wednesday that his life in the days since has felt like a Seinfeld episode.

“I don’t have to answer anything I don’t want to because I’m working for free today,” Monson joked. “Did you see the ‘Seinfeld’ when George was trying to get fired and couldn’t lose his job, still going to work every day? That’s me. I’m a ‘Seinfeld’ episode going on right now in real life.”

If Arizona has its way, the wacky week will be over quickly.

2 Arizona vs. 15 Long Beach State (2 p.m. ET, TBS)

The Wildcats have their third consecutive tournament appearance under coach Tommy Lloyd — all of which have featured a top-2 seed in the field. In each of Lloyd’s 3 seasons with the program, Arizona has won either a regular-season Pac-12 championship or a Pac-12 Tournament title.

In Lloyd’s first year, Arizona lost by 12 in the Sweet 16. Last season ended in even more disappointing fashion. This season, the Wildcats dropped out of the Pac-12 Tournament in the semis after shooting 38% from the field and turning the ball over 14 times. It was the second-worst shooting performance of the campaign and the 11th time this season Arizona has turned it over at least 14 times. The Wildcats have an elite offense, a defense to match, and a break-neck pace.

Long Beach State is going to look to push the tempo as well. The Beach went 10-10 against Big West competition during the regular season, but knocked off top-seeded UC Irvine and 3-seed UC Davis in the conference tournament.

Arizona is 21-11-1 against the spread this season. Long Beach State is 16-16 against the spread. The Beach has covered in 3 straight after failing to cover the spread in 5 consecutive games to close out the regular season. Arizona is a 19.5-point favorite at FanDuel and a 20.5-point favorite at most other online sportsbook apps.

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To help with making predictions in this matchup, here are some advanced metrics from KenPom to consider:

Opponent-adjusted offensive efficiency

  • Arizona: 121.1 (8th)
  • Long Beach State: 107.7 (147th)

Opponent-adjusted defensive efficiency

  • Arizona: 94.5 (11th)
  • Long Beach State: 107.7 (210th)

Opponent-adjusted tempo

  • Arizona: 71.9 possessions (16)
  • Long Beach State: 71.3 possessions (27th)

Here are 3 player prop picks for this game:

Arizona G Caleb Love over 17.5 points (+100 via FanDuel)

The Wildcats will have had nearly a week to sit and stew over their 67-59 loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament, and Love should be particularly itching to get back on the floor. His last 3 games — the regular-season finale loss to USC and the two conference tourney games — have been stinkers. He has 19 total points, 34 total shots, and 11 total turnovers. Love has averaged 17.6 points a game in the NCAA Tournament during his career and I expect the Wildcats to come out with their hair on fire against Long Beach State.

Arizona G Kylan Boswell over 1.5 3s (+100 via DraftKings)

From Feb. 8 through March 7, Boswell averaged 12.8 points and 2.4 made 3s a game. Arizona likes to pop 3s from transition and Long Beach State’s transition defense leaves plenty to be desired. The Beach gives up a ton of triples. Like, a ton. Like, the 13th-most at the Division I level.

Long Beach State G Marcus Tsohonis under 15.5 points (-102 via FanDuel)

Tsohonis hasn’t met a shot he didn’t like. Over the course of his career, he has averaged 18 shot attempts per 40 minutes. At Long Beach State this season, he’s hoisting 21 attempts per-40 and has a 44.7% effective field goal percentage. His usage is in the 30s, meaning he’ll be the top guy on Arizona’s defensive scouting report.