Two teams with plenty of tournament experience collide tomorrow night in Dayton, Ohio, as Iowa State opens the NCAA Tournament against Notre Dame. The Cyclones are making their second straight appearance in the tournament and have a 22-11 record after losing to Kansas in the semifinals of the Big-12 tournament.
“We had guys who played in this event last year and we knocked off a very good team in Connecticut and had an opportunity to play against eventual national champion Kentucky, it was a very good experience,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg.
Notre Dame is 25-9 and this is the fourth straight trip to the tournament for the Fighting Irish. “They defend, they rebound, they don’t turn the ball over and they pose a lot of matchup problems,” Hoiberg says.
Hoiberg says the Cyclones will need to do a good job on the glass as Notre Dame has very physical big guys inside.