After landing the No. 9 seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, the UConn Huskies will be playing 8th-seeded Iowa State to kick things off in their first game on March 15. The Huskies received an at-large bid from the tournament selection committee.
The Iowa State Cyclones (22-10, 12-6 Big 12) were also an at-large selection out of the Big XII and are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. Iowa State lost to Texas in the quarterfinal of the Big XII Tournament. The Cyclones are led by Royce White's 13.1 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game, 5.2 and 1.2 assists per game. White was named the Big 12's Newcomer of the Year and was a first-team All-Big 12 selection. Scott Christopherson (12.5 ppg) and Chris Allen (11.8 ppg) also score in double figures for the Cyclones.
Iowa State's out-of-conference results were not that impressive, but the Cyclones did defeat Kansas and Baylor inside their conference. Iowa State and UConn have never met on the basketball court.
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