Preparations are underway at Iowa State where the Cyclones will play defending national champion UConn in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Louisville, Kentucky. The Cyclones are the eighth seed in the South Region and will be making their first appearance in the tournament since 2005.
Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg says it’s a fun time of year, and what they work for all year long. The Cyclones are 22-10 and Hoiberg expects his team to bounce back from a loss to Texas in the quarterfinal round of the Big-12 Tournament.
“That’s how this groups is, if we have a disappointing effort, I’ve been very proud of how they bounce back,” Hoiberg says.
Hoiberg says it will be important to have a few good days of practice. “I think our guys will play well, we had the experience now of playing in a tournament format at the Big 12’s down in Kansas City,” Hoiberg says. He says they did not play well in the conference tournament and that was a slap in the face, and hopefully they will play well in this tournament.
UConn is 20-13 on the season and the Huskies finished 8-10 in the Big East Conference. Tip time has been set at 8:20 on Thursday night