First Round Primer: Arizona takes on Long Beach State | Sports

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KVOA) – Thursday at 11 a.m. Arizona time, the Wildcats men’s basketball team will open NCAA Tournament play, taking on Long Beach State in the Round of 64.

Here’s what you need to know going into the matchup.

Game time: 12 p.m. MDT (11 a.m. MST in Arizona)

Network: TBS

Odds: Arizona is favored to win by 20. The over/under for total points is 163.5.

Arizona (25-8, 15-5 Pac-12) projected lineup:

– PG Kylan Boswell

– SG Caleb Love

– SF Pelle Larsson

– PF Keshad Johnson

– C Oumar Ballo

Long Beach State (21-14, 10-10 Big West) projected llineup:

– PG Marcus Tsohonis

– SG Messiah Thompson

– SG AJ George

– PF Aboubacar Traore

– PF Lassina Traore

Three keys for Arizona:

– Control the pace. The Wildcats can run with anyone, but have an ability to make opponents uncomfortable by dictating the flow of the game. While Long Beach State will try to move quickly, Arizona must be efficient in their half court sets to cause the Beach to push more than they’re used to.

– Settle the guards in. It’s no secret Caleb Love and Kylan Boswell are a big key to the Wildcats’ offensive success. After rough games against Oregon in the Pac-12 semifinal (the duo combined to go 1-for-10 from three), Arizona needs to find its guard tandem some confidence-building looks early on.

– Protect the rim. Oumar Ballo is one of the best defenders in college basketball, while Keshad Johnson earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 defense. The Wildcats must keep LBSU from attacking the rim and force the Beach into tough shots.

Three keys for Long Beach State:

– Get Marcus Tsohonis going. The Washington transfer sparked big runs in the Big West tournament, and provided short spurts in the Beach’s early season win at USC. He sets the offense with the 29th-fastest pace in college basketball.

– Make threes. Despite averaging more than 77 points per game, Long Beach State ranks below 140th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency by KenPom. If the shots are going in, that efficiency goes up.

– Keep Lassina Traore out of foul trouble. The Beach’s big man in the middle will need to hold his own against the center tandem of Oumar Ballo and Mo Krivas. Early foul trouble could lead to Arizona hammering the ball in the lane.

If the Wildcats win, they will face either (7) Dayton or (10) Nevada Saturday in the Round of 32, will game time to be determined later.