COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Everybody together, repeat the mantra of March Madness: Survive and advance.

A different mantra comes to mind today at Nationwide Arena:

Shoot and shoot again.

When Tennessee and Long Beach State hook up, they'll need a shot clock about like they'll need sunscreen and a beach towel (it's freezing here, spring break or not).

After a couple of months slugging their way through the SEC, the Vols have arrived at the NCAA tournament opening round to find an opponent of like mind and like tempo.

Why do you suppose a team from Long Beach, a Pacific port surrounded by the sprawl of Los Angeles, has a nickname like the 49ers?

Perhaps it's because their goal is to get 49 on the scoreboard by halftime.

"Our kids like to score,'' Long Beach coach Larry Reynolds said Thursday.

"They like that about the game, that they have the freedom to shoot the basketball and not much is said.''

He was taking the words, more or less, right out of UT coach Bruce Pearl's mouth.

In two seasons, Pearl has supercharged Tennessee basketball with a go-go, press-press, shoot-shoot philosophy.

Passing up an open shot is a felony. Forcing a shot is at worst a misdemeanor. Offenders are immediately eligible for diversion.

Tennessee has scored 90-plus points six times this year, but not once since a 92-84 win over Mississippi State on since Jan. 7, the SEC opener.

Long Beach has scored 90-plus nine times. It's routine.

Here's an interesting number that jumped out of the fine print in my newspaper this week:

The over/under figure on today's game was 170A 1/2 points. That was a whopping 15 points higher than any of the other 31 opening games in the bracket.

To get to 170, the score would have to be something like 86-84. (Or, if you're a Tennessee fan, 96-74.)

Until an 80-73 loss to Wichita State in the second round last year, the Vols had scored in the 60s in five consecutive NCAA tournament games.

The last time UT played in a 170-point NCAA tournament game was 1979, a 97-81 win over Eastern Kentucky.

So fasten your seat belt today.

"It's just fun,'' said UT freshman Duke Crews. "It's one of the reasons I came to Tennessee.''

Will it really play out that way, though? Don't coaches pucker up and reel it in come March?

Not these coaches. Pearl sounded like he'd bet the over.

"I think we're going to have a hard time stopping them, so we better score,'' he said.

"Both the players want to play that way and I think both coaches have demonstrated that they like transition basketball.''

Few like it as much as Tennessee. The Vols expect opponents to resist the tempo. Most do.

"If they (Long Beach) know what's good for them, I think they will, too,'' junior JaJuan Smith said with a laugh.

Maybe the 49ers don't know what's good for them. Or, maybe they do and it's on your mark, get set, go.

"That's what got us here,'' Reynolds said, "and if you try to change something in two or three days, the kids aren't going to be very comfortable with it.''

"We know,'' said UT point guard Ramar Smith, "we're going to get up a lot of shots, and we know they're going to get up a lot of shots.

"So the team that makes the most shots is going to come out of it with the win.''

Pass the ammunition. Fire and fall back.

There will be runs by both teams. A double-digit deficit will be no cause to panic.

Just don't blink.

"If it's in the 80s, it's fine,'' said Crews. "If it's in the 60s, it's fine.

"Just as long as we get a win.''

Here's betting on the 80s.