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East Region notes: Tennessee knows it won't be the fan favorite in Dallas, one Texas Tech player is fed up with chicken strips

News and notes from the first day of the NCAA Tournament in the East Region played at American Airlines Center:

Florida transfer could be Gators' downfall

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If Texas Tech has an inside edge against Florida, it will come in the form of guard Brandone Francis. The sophomore transferred from Florida to Tech following his freshman season, so he knows the ins and outs of several of his former Gator teammates. So it hasn't been uncommon for the Red Raiders to turn to Francis when watching film in preparation for Saturday's game.

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"He was giving us some pointers and just some advice on guarding players," wing Justin Gray said. "It's great to have him on the team just to give us insight."

Florida guard Chris Chiozza praised the teammate that Francis was during his one year in Gainesville.

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"He's one of those guys that always had something different to him. He was always amped up," Chiozza said. "You could tell, he loved the game, and it meant a lot to him."

From downtown

The matchup between Texas Tech and Florida will feature a strength vs. a strength. The Gators were third in the SEC in 3-pointers attempted per game, while Tech was second in the Big 12 in 3-point defense.

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Tech wing Justin Gray said the Gators reminded him a little of Kansas and its high rate of 3-point attempts.

"They push really hard in transition. They get a lot of trail 3s," Gray scouted. "Pretty much everybody on that team shoots 3s at a high percentage."

SEC is rolling

Texas A&M's win over Providence improved the SEC's record to 5-0 in the NCAA tournament. Granted, Arkansas soon after ended the streak with a loss to Butler, but it was an impressive start for the conference.

There had been a lot of talk about how the SEC improved this season, resulting in a conference-record eight teams making the tournament. But it's still good to prove yourself in postseason play.

"Hopefully it sinks in nationally what this league is capable of, how this league has grown from top to bottom," Florida head coach Mike White said. "And there's teams that aren't in this tournament that are really good. It's a talented league. It's a deep league. A bunch of really good players, a bunch of really proud fan bases, and I think it'll only continue to grow."

No more chicken strips?!?

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Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard has become an expert on food in Dallas this week, spouting enchilada metaphors and Whataburger wisdom.

One of his food anecdotes on Friday involved changing up the team's pregame menu for one of his freshmen. Guard Davide Moretti is from Bologna, Italy. After a week in Lubbock, Moretti came to Beard's office to ask a question about American cuisine.

"He's like, 'Coach, everything is good, apartment, coaching staff, language, no problem, academics, I got it, but the fuel the body part, Coach ... too much chicken strips,'" Beard recounted. "'Do we eat chicken strips every meal? Is this America?' So we've tried to get away from the chicken strips a little bit this year and go with pasta and cheesecake for Moro."

-- Adam Grosbard

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Scouting Sister?

Loyola and its 98-year-old basketball chaplain, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, have become one of the feel-good stories of the tournament.

Besides her chaplain duties, Sister Jean is noted for providing detailed scouting reports to coach Porter Moser. Asked how Tennessee might compete against that special edge, Tennessee's Grant Williams provided his own scouting report.

"I don't know. I feel like she's aggressive. You know, she pushes the ball up the court," Williams said to laughter. "But she's super nice. I saw her on TV. ... To have that around is something special, and you just love it at this time of the year."

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Mentor sends congrats

Loyola coach Porter Moser spent six years as an assistant under Tony Barone at Texas A&M in the 1990s.

Barone, who lives near the Loyola campus, left Moser a message after Loyola won the Missouri Valley Tournament.

"He was as high energy as you can get, passionate," Moser said. "No question, Tony Barone was a huge mentor of mine."

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Fighting for the same thing

Tennessee players know that most of American Airlines Center and most of the country will be rooting against them when they face Loyola.

Forward Admiral Schofield, from the far Chicago suburb of Zion, considered Loyola as a possible destination out of high school, but wanted to put harsh Midwest winters in his rear-view mirror. Forward Grant Williams said Tennessee might be rooting for Loyola if they weren't playing.

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"You like teams like these, the ones that fight all odds and compete, and that's something you love," Williams said. "Like we're a type of team like that. Not many people chose us. We're fighting for the same thing they are. If we weren't playing them, you'd kind of get excited and you'd kind of enjoy March and the madness side of it."

Great shooters vs. great shot blockers

Looking for a key stat to watch in the Tennessee-Loyola matchup? Field-goal percentage is a good place to start.

Loyola ranks fourth nationally, converting 50.6 percent of its shots with five players averaging 9.9 points or better. Tennessee is holding opponents to 40.7 percent shooting. Loyola's Aundre Jackson, a Kennedale product who shoots 57.3 percent from the field, has noticed the Volunteers' defensive intensity.

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"We're used to playing against size, but we were watching film earlier and they try to block a lot of shots," Jackson said. "So just a lot of pump fakes, a lot of eyes on the rim and we will get them out of [their] stance and out of position. And then it'll be easier for us to score."

-- Chuck Carlton

Twitter: @AdamGrosbard@ChuckCarltonDMN