Matt Thomas almost chose Virginia over Iowa State, looks forward to Sweet 16 matchup

CHICAGO — Picture Iowa State junior guard Matt Thomas swapping his cardinal and gold jersey for the blue and orange of Virginia.

In the summer of 2012, he was torn between the two on which place would be the best fit to play college basketball.

'It was close,' Thomas said. 'I felt comfortable with both situations. It really came down to distance. I wanted my friends and family to be able to come watch me play on a consistent basis.'

Thomas went with Iowa State and then-coach Fred Hoiberg while he had to make a tough phone call to Virginia coach Tony Bennett and let him know his decision. The 4-seed Cyclones (23-11) and 1-seed Cavaliers (28-7) will square off in the Sweet 16 on Friday at 6:10 p.m. (CBS).

Relationships in Ames with Hoiberg and assistant coach T.J. Otzelberger won Thomas over in the end, but his ties to Bennett — a fellow Wisconsinite — made his decision anything but automatic.

'(Bennett) really speaks my language,' Thomas said. 'I can relate to him, really, being from Wisconsin and him playing at Green Bay. So I had a lot of ties with him. I think that's a lot of the reason why our relationship was as good as it was.

'To this day, I still respect the hell out of him as a person and as a coach. I'm excited to go out there (Friday) and compete against him.'

Thomas has flourished in his junior season in coach Steve Prohm's up-tempo offense and averages 10.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-4, 197-pound guard has made 87 3-pointers this season — 163 for his career — and has hit a 3-point shot in 24-straight games.

Bennett just would have liked to see him develop in the slower-paced Cavaliers' system.

'(We) really wanted Matt,' Bennett said. 'Being from Wisconsin and him being there, he's a terrific player, again, represented all that we try to get in student-athletes at Virginia, just the character, his competitiveness, his completeness as a player. They did a great job with him at Iowa State.'

'Something's got to give' with ISU, UVA

It'll be fast against slow, but there won't be any efficiency lacking when Iowa State and Virginia take the court at United Center.

Iowa State has the second-fastest tempo — 71.7 possessions per game — of any team left in the tournament and has the second-best offensive efficiency in the country. Virginia is last in the nation in possessions per game (61.3), takes its time in the half court offense and is top-10 on KenPom.com in offensive and defensive efficiency.

Hlas: Took time, but Cyclones, Prohm came together

'Something's gotta give, man,' said senior Georges Niang. 'Someone is going to beat someone and I think it's going to be a great game.

'I think the exciting part is something's got to break and something's got to shake. Pieces have to fall into their place and it's a mystery. You're going to have to watch to find out what's going to happen.'

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