Cyclones welcome challeninging road in NCAA tourney

AMES - As the name of Iowa State's opening-round NCAA tournament opponent flickered across the big screen, Chris Allen smiled, nodded repeatedly and clapped his hands.

The Cyclones, seeded eighth in the South region, get a gut check in game one: Defending national champion Connecticut Thursday in Louisville, Ky.

“My thoughts on the whole thing was, ‘Yes. A good game,'” said Allen, a veteran of two Final Fours while at Michigan State. “I didn't want to play somebody we could take for granted, or a team that doesn't have much hype.”

To the victor goes ... overall No. 1 seed Kentucky in the round of 32.

“Perfect,” said ISU star forward Royce White, who leads the team in scoring, rebounds and assists, among other categories. “You don't want the easy way.”

The Cyclones (22-10) will face a 20-13 Huskies team brimming with length, athleticism and experience - but chastened by a season that, so far, has been a tumultuous follow-up to 2011's uphill climb to glory.

UConn's legendary coach, Jim Calhoun, missed eight games because of back issues, returning to the bench in the regular season finale.

And the Huskies, just like last season, sat on the bubble until a Big East tournament run halted only by a 58-55 setback to No. 1 seed Syracuse materialized.

“(They're) they type of team that could win a national championship,” Allen said. “They have all the tools.”

Tool one and tool two: Guard Jeremy Lamb and center Andre Drummond.

Lamb, a 6-5 sophomore, rode shotgun with Kemba Walker last season, averaging 16.2 points in the tournament.

Drummond, a 6-10 freshman, is coming off a double-double in the Big East semifinal loss to the Orange.

“You're playing two lottery picks in the first round, probably two top-ten picks,” said Cyclone coach Fred Hoiberg, who along with his team sat before an estimated 1,500 fans at Hilton Coliseum who celebrated the program's first tournament berth since 2005. “Those guys are big-time talents.”

They're not alone.

Four of the five players - sans Walker - who started in UConn's national championship win over Butler returned this season, including forwards Alex Oriakhi and Roscoe Smith.

“We're out here just enjoying the journey,” said ISU guard Chris Babb, who likely will be tasked with slowing Lamb. “We knew we were going to get a tough team.”

Drawing any team in the postseason for the first time in seven years was enough to beckon an amped-up crowd back into Hilton.

Hoiberg smiled and waved as fans and players alike rose to give him a standing ovation.

Two seasons in, the former Cyclone star and Ames native dubbed “The Mayor” has the program back where he feels it belongs: In the tournament with a chance to make headline-generating noise.

“I've been passionate about Iowa State athletics since I was a kid,” said the second-year head coach, who gambled and won with four new Division transfers, including White, Babb and Allen. “I used to walk to games - I had a broken ankle and I used to hobble on crutches to come to Hilton Coliseum to watch those games. The town shut down on game nights. You're seeing some of that again.”

Some could morph into much more if ISU overcomes the odds again.

UConn.

Kentucky.

In Kentucky.

Sounds about right.

“That's how the storyline's supposed to go,” White said. “It's exactly what I would have expected to have to deal with in order to make it deeper run in the tournament and there it is. Now we've got to go deal with it.”

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