No. 3 seed Cyclones open NCAA tourney against 14th-seed UAB

AMES — Fred Hoiberg readied his team to play Kansas for the Big 12 Tournament championship while catching snippets of UAB and Middle Tennessee playing for the Conference USA championship.

Little did he know that 24 hours later, Iowa State would be getting ready to play UAB in the NCAA tournament.

'I obviously wasn't studying it when we were getting ready for Kansas,' Hoiberg said Sunday. 'We'll get to work tonight and be ready to start getting after it with our guys tomorrow.'

Iowa State earned its second straight third seed and will play 14-seed UAB in the second round Thursday in Louisville, Ky. on Thursday. A round of 32 matchup against No. 6 seed SMU or No. 11 seed UCLA awaits the Cyclones (25-8, 12-6) should they beat the Blazers (19-15, 12-6).

'Teams are going to give us their best shot, especially a team like UAB,' said sophomore point guard Monte Morris. 'They're coming off a big conference championship, and we've just got to throw the first punch at them.'

The Cyclones admittedly don't know much about their Conference USA opponent, but Hoiberg does have a history with UAB Coach Jerod Haase. Haase played against Hoiberg when he was at Kansas in the 1990s, and was an assistant for Roy Williams at Kansas and North Carolina.

'We had some great matchups,' Hoiberg said. 'We beat them in close games here and they beat us handily at Kansas, is how it usually worked when we played those teams. He's an unbelievable competitor.'

UAB, like Iowa State, played three games in three days en route to its conference championship and will have a quick turnaround for the second-round game. Hoiberg said the team plans to hold practice Monday in Ames, travel Tuesday for Thursday's game.

'I think we're tired right now, but we've got a couple days now and a couple hours of sleep here or there and we'll ready,' said junior Georges Niang. 'We'll be ready to practice, ready to go and get started on UAB tomorrow.'

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'For me personally, I'm happy it's such a quick turnaround because I don't want to get too excited and think about it so much,' said junior Jameel McKay. 'I'm ready to get it started.'

In Iowa State's NCAA tournament appearance in 2012, the Cyclones played in Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center against UConn and eventual champion Kentucky. Although no one on this ISU roster played in that tournament, Hoiberg feels there is something to be said for the familiarity of going back.

'Just being in an unbelievable basketball town, it's great to be back,' Hoiberg said.

This week's trip to Louisville will mark the first time in Iowa State history the Cyclones have played in four straight NCAA tournaments. The mantra of this team is to go further and do more than last year's Sweet 16 squad.

'It's the best time of the year for me and I know a bunch of the guys will agree with me,' said junior Naz Long. 'We want to be national champions and the quicker we can be that, the better. With that being said, we have to take the right steps and preparation because anybody can be beat in March.'