Will Arizona be upset in March Madness? Long Beach State throws early haymakers in first round

How about Long Beach State?

The Beach has come out swinging early against Arizona basketball in Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

LIVE UPDATES: Arizona basketball vs Long Beach State March Madness NCAA Tournament live updates, score

The Wildcats jumped out to a 17-9 lead with 13:09 left in the first half following a free throw from Pelle Larsson. From there, Long Beach State churned up a 13-0 run to take a five-point lead. Amari Stroud scored three baskets and seven total points during the run.

Arizona was able to even the game and re-take the lead with 6:43 left in the first half following a basket from Oumar Ballo, and took a lead into the half.

What's clear is the Beach is not going to go down without a fight, throwing haymakers against the No. 2 seed in the West Region.

Why is Dan Monson still coaching Long Beach State?

The Beach are playing in the NCAA Tournament with a lame duck coach. Dan Monson was fired on March 11. Yet, Long State Beach won the Big West tournament title to earn a berth.

"O.K., I don’t have to answer anything I don’t want to because I’m working for free today,” Monson said at his press conference.

Long Beach State Athletics Director Bobby Smitheran told the Associated Press he fired Monson to inspire the team. A few hours before the game against Arizona tipped off.

The Beach is making the most of its first NCAA appearance since 2012.

"My belief and hope is that by doing what I did and the timing of it, they would play inspired, and that's what they did," Smitheran said. "I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, but it worked."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona vs Long Beach State upset alert March Madness