By snoadmin
Long Beach State forward Sterling Byrd got a surprise when he went to his statistics class Monday.
“My professor stopped the class and the whole class gave me a standing ovation,” Byrd said. “I’m a shy dude, so I kind of wanted to run out of the class. But it was really nice of my professor [Jeff Davis] to do that.”
A team that just a few years ago was at the bottom of the Big West Conference is now basking in the glory of being conference champions and before it heads to the NCAA Tournament first round in Columbus, Ohio.
The team gathered in The Walter Pyramid Monday afternoon to talk with the media about its first round opponent, Tennessee. The game will be on Friday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, with tip-off at approximately 11:35 a.m.
“[Tennessee] plays a pressure defense but are patient on offense,” said LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds. “They are one of the top pressing teams in the country. Most of the teams out west don’t [press], so we haven’t faced a team like this.”
Reynolds said that his team will be working on how to attack Tennessee’s press defense in practice this week.
Overall, though, the team is excited about the matchup with the Volunteers.
“We are not just happy to go to the NCAA Tournament,” Aaron Nixon said. “We want to go out there and win.”
For Nixon, it will be a homecoming of sorts, because he grew up about two hours north in Cleveland and played his first year of junior college in Columbus.
“I think I have had about 100 ticket requests,” Nixon said with a little laugh. “I’ve never had so many text messages in my life. I had to turn off my phone.”
Forward Travon Free said he hopes going to Nixon’s home state will bring the team luck.
“Hopefully Aaron will go for 50 [points],” Free said.
The team hasn’t watched tape yet on Tennessee, but Byrd, who is a huge college basketball fan, said he watched them play five or six times this season.
“They are a very good team,” Byrd said. “I watched them beat Florida and almost beat Ohio State. They like to run like us, so it should be a good game.”
Mark Dawson, who was named to the all-tournament team for the Big West Tournament, is looking to prove that LBSU isn’t just a team of talented guards, but also has a solid frontcourt.
“We will just see what happens when we play,” Dawson said. “When I hear people say we don’t have good big men, I use that as motivation.”
