The No. 2 Arizona Wildcats will battle No. 15 Long Beach State on Thursday, March 21, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Arizona has stood tall in its final season in the Pac-12 and enters the NCAA Tournament in search of its first Final Four appearance since 2001. Senior center Oumar Ballo stepped up by averaging a double-double throughout the regular season while North Carolina transfer Caleb Love made an impact with just over 19 points per game.
Last year, Arizona entered the Big Dance as a two-seed, only to be clipped by 15-seed Princeton in the first round. Can Tommy Lloyd’s crew get some redemption this time around?
NET: 4
KenPom Overall: 6
KenPom O: 8
KenPom D: 12
Record: 25-8
Strength of Schedule: 25
Conference: Pac-12
Conference Record: 15-5
Quad 1 Record: 8-3
Long Beach State is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012 and has one of the more intriguing stories heading into the Big Dance. The school announced last week that it would be parting ways with longtime head coach Dan Monson and would allow him to finish out the season. So what did his players do? They of course went on a surprise run through the Big West Tournament, knocking off UC Davis in the championship game to extend the tenure of their fired head coach.
Junior forward Aboubacar Traore is the player to watch for the Beach as he earned First Team Big West honors with an average of 12 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. Senior guard Marcus Tsohonis is their leading scorer with an average of 17.8 ppg.
Long Beach State
NET: 170
KenPom Overall: 163
KenPom O: 145
KenPom D: 210
Record: 21-14
Strength of Schedule: 182
Conference: Big West
Conference Record: 10-10
Quad 1 Record: 0-1
2024 March Madness: Arizona vs. Long Beach State odds
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
Spread: Arizona -21.5, Long Beach State +21.5
Over/Under: 159.5
Moneyline: Arizona -8000, Long Beach State +2200
