Long Beach State Surfs Emotional Wave Into NCAA Tournament Date With Powerful Arizona

Long Beach State Surfs Emotional Wave Into NCAA Tournament Date With Powerful Arizona
Long Beach State Coach Dan Monson talks to 49ers forward Lassina Traore during a game in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Nov. 17, 2023. Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY via Field Level Media
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An intriguing coaching matchup is at the center of Thursday’s first-round NCAA Tournament West Region clash between 15th-seeded Long Beach State and No. 2 Arizona in Salt Lake City.

The Cinderella 49ers (21–14) are led by a veteran coach, Dan Monson, who has been told by the university that he will lose his job come season’s end. Tommy Lloyd, who leads the Wildcats (25–8), got his start as a volunteer assistant at Gonzaga thanks to Mr. Monson, who had previously recognized Mr. Lloyd’s ability and arranged the hire just as he was leaving the Spokane, Wash., school for Minnesota in 1999.

While Mr. Lloyd now runs one of the premier college basketball programs in the nation, Mr. Monson and Long Beach State agreed to a mutual separation before last week’s Big West Conference Tournament. The 49ers, who had closed the regular season on a five-game losing streak, promptly won three in a row in Henderson, Nev., to unexpectedly capture the tournament and automatic NCAA berth.

Mr. Monson, 62, has been at Long Beach State for 17 years, but his contract expires after this season. He remains at the helm until then.

“To their credit, they let me coach,” Mr. Monson told the Los Angeles Times. “A lot of schools wouldn’t let you coach because something like this could happen. But obviously they didn’t think we had a chance to do that, and that’s a motivation I used with our kids. ... ‘They didn’t just quit on me. They quit on you guys. They don’t feel like you can win this tournament,’ you know? And it’s certainly no hard feelings because the most gratifying thing is to see how my players reacted.”

Marcus Tsohonis leads Long Beach State in scoring at 17.8 points a game.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, are coming off a Pacific-12 Conference Tournament semifinal loss to eventual champion Oregon on March 15. Arizona won the conference regular season title and blew out Southern California in the quarterfinals before bowing out the next day. That cost the Wildcats a possible No. 1 seeding, but this is the sixth time in the past 10 NCAA tournaments that Arizona has earned a top-two seed.

The Wildcats have a good history with NCAA Tournament games in Salt Lake City. They are 9-2 in 11 games in the Utah capital.

“No matter who you play in the NCAA Tournament, it’s going to be a team that’s playing well and is very deserving,” Mr. Lloyd said. “Monson and I go back a long way, but we’re both professionals, so we’re going to prepare our teams the best we can this week and look forward to going out there and competing.”

Mr. Lloyd said he and Mr. Monson are family friends, and that Mr. Monson is “one of the funnest people I know.”

Arizona is led by Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love, who averages 18.1 points per game. The Wildcats also feature big man Oumar Ballo, who averages 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds, and has made 64.9 percent of his shots this season. Arizona has lost as a No. 2 seed to a 15 seed twice in program history, including last year to Princeton and in 1993 to Santa Clara.