I can’t imagine Chase will be very accurate with his new toy. The Dayton Flyers should be more on the mark Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They’ll have to be to beat Nevada.

I’m at the Delta Center right now in large media room a short walk from the court. No. 15 Long Beach State rallied from an early 17-9 deficit to take a 22-17 lead against No. 2 seed Arizona. Now Arizona is back on top, 24-22 with 6 minutes, 40 seconds to play in the first half.

There’s a sizable crowd here. The game is sold out. Utah likes its basketball. Two direct flights from Cincinnati to Salt Lake City this morning delivered a number of Dayton fans to the game, including the longtime sports information director Doug Hauschild, who had the same job in 1984 when the Flyers last played in Salt Lake City. He had to stay behind the last few days to work the First Four at UD Arena.

Most of the teams are staying at hotels downtown. Dayton is staying at a Marriott across the town near the University of Utah campus. That’s why some players went to a NIT game between Utah and UC Irvine on Tuesday.

The Flyers will arrive at the Delta Center soon. Their game against Nevada is scheduled to tip off at 2:30 p.m. here and 4:30 p.m. back in Ohio. That actual start time will depend on when the Arizona vs. Long Beach State game ends.

Long Beach State has one of the most interesting storylines of any of the 68 teams in the field. The school fired coach Dan Monson only to have the team win the Big West Conference tournament.

“I keep using the word ‘surreal,’” Monson said Wednesday. “Twilight Zone might be part true. It’s been awesome. I mean, the Monday of the decision was the hardest thing professionally you go through. I guess top two because I went through it at Minnesota, also. Professionally is different than the rest of your life. I think separating them is hard sometimes.

“Then going to the locker room and telling the players, it was super, super hard obviously. But to see their reactions. As a parent or as a coach, you’re always disciplining your kids, you’re always holding them accountable, pushing them. You don’t really know how they’re taking it until they tell you they love you or they show you.

“Those guys showed me they loved me that day. I’ll never forget it. That’s all you need. I’ve reflected this week that I don’t have a job, but I don’t need one. I got everything I got with my family, with my players, with my friends. It’s been a life-changing week in a good way.

“Next week I have a car payment, house payment. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I don’t really care (smiling).”