The Iowa State Cyclones are scheduled to face the UAB Blazers in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The No. 3 seed Cyclones and No. 14 seed Blazers both won their conference tournaments and hope to carry that momentum into Thursday.
Iowa State (25-8) is led by forward Georges Niang, who leads the team in points per game (15.5) to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He led the comeback for the Cyclones against the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 Championship Game and scored 19 points on 9-of-18 shooting. He also was the team's top performer in the semifinal matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners after compiling 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in the winning effort.
The Cyclones were a No. 3 seed in last year's tournament, but fell to the No. 7 seed (and eventual NCAA Champion) Connecticut Huskies in the Sweet 16.
The Blazers (19-15) are coming off a three-game win streak themselves, which resulted in their first-ever Conference USA Tournament Championship and first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011. Top scorer Robert Brown came up huge in the final matchup against Middle Tennessee State and ripped off 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting to seal the 73-60 victory. However, he'll have to increase his fire power if UAB wants a shot at competing with the No.9 ranked team in the country.
Here are some notable stats for each team heading into today's 12:40 p.m. matchup in Louisville, KY.
Iowa State | UAB |
RPI - .6288 (8th overall) | RPI - .5161 (132nd overall) |
SOS - 13 | SOS - 109 |
PPG - 78.4 (14th overall) | PPG - 68.9 (139th overall) |
FG% - .480 (18th overall) | FG% - .430 (203rd overall) |
Points Allowed Per Game - 69.3 (257th overall) | Points Allowed Per Game - 67.7 (207th overall) |
Turnovers Per Game - 11 (44th overall) | Turnovers Per Game - 13.6 (266th overall) |
Season Rank - 9 | Season Rank - 128 |
According to ESPN Pick Center, the Cyclones are 14-point favorites and 56% of the public chose them to cover that spread. Additionally, 96% of those filling out their brackets with CBSSports.com have chosen Iowa State to advance, which isn't much of a surprise. However, the No. 14 seed Mercer Bears defeated the No. 3 seed Duke Blue Devils in last year's tournament, so nobody is safe until they officially advance.
Check out the live stream for today's matchup between Iowa State and UAB here as well as the live radio broadcast here. The game will be broadcasted on truTV at 12:40 p.m.
