UConn center Andre Drummond is a worse free-throw shooter than Iowa State's Royce White

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- One of the few bricks not in Royce White's wall of talent is free throw-shooting, where "bricks" is an operative word.

White has made just 94 of 192 foul shots for 49 percent. And he's on a roll, having made all three of his attempts in Iowa State's most-recent game, a Big 12 tourney loss to Texas.

Well, Connecticut has something far more woeful than that when it comes to that department.

Freshman center Andre Drummond, a 6-foot-10 player viewed as a possible NBA lottery pick this year should he choose to leave school, has made 26 of 88 free throws for an icy 29.5 percent. He was 1-of-8 in last week's Big East tournament.

Iowa State, however, would be happy if Drummond skipped off to the NBA before Thursday night's UConn-ISU NCAA tournament game here.

Drummond averages 10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots. He averages 3.5 offensive rebounds per game. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies in their 58-55 Big East quarterfinal loss to second-ranked Syracuse last Thursday.

Drummond didn't sound too modest Wednesday when it came to discussing the matchup with the 6-8, 270-pound White and Iowa State. Asked about matchup problems with the slick dribbling and passing of White, Drummond said "I feel like it creates a matchup problem for Iowa State. We have Alex (6-foot-9 Alex Oriakhi) and myself in the post and they don't have any bigs above 6-9. Me and Alex are going to do our thing.

"We're bigger, we're quicker as a collective group. We just have to run the ball down the court, get it in the post, and finish."

Like a true coach, UConn's Jim Calhoun took a more fawning approach when the subject was his opponent.

"We don't have anybody who plays like (White), obviously," Calhoun said.

"He's a heck of a basketball player. I was talking to a pro scout today who's seen him four or five times and just said he's got some (Kevin) McHale stuff inside. Right now I wouldn't consider him a great shooter outside, but he just does things to help his team win.

"You can't simulate him. I'll guarantee you Fred (Hoiberg) doesn't have another one, and nobody else has the same kinds of plays. ... We can see the kids that can shoot. We've seen the kids that can post up. But he's a unique basketball player."

And he makes 49 percent of his free throws, not 29 percent.