OMAHA – #4 Iowa State will have to solve the South Dakota State Jackrabbits tonight in the NCAA Tournament, a team they have lost to the last two times the teams met, in order to advance to advance to a Saturday game. Top-off is at 6:35 PM on TRU TV inside the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraksa.
No. 4 Iowa State enters the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time in school history and the seventh time as an Automatic Qualifier after winning the Big 12 Championship over the weekend. At No. 4 in the AP Top 25, this is the highest ISU has ever been ranked entering the tournament.
Iowa State cruised to the Big 12 Championship over the weekend, winning all three games by an average of 17 points. Those wins included two over
top 15 teams. Keshon Gilbert was named the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player, while Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic were named to
the All-Championship Team.
ISU-SDSU NOTES
– The connections are deep for this one. Starting with the big one, Iowa State Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger earned his first head coaching job at SDSU, leading the Jacks to a 70-33 overall record and 35-11 record in the Summit League in three years as head coach. SDSU made the postseason in all three years (2 NCAA, 1 NIT), while winning a pair of Summit League titles.
– SDSU Head Coach Eric Henderson was promoted to head coach when Otz left to be the head coach at UNLV. Henderson had been on staff for the three years Otz was head coach. Henderson was also a member of the Iowa State coaching staff from 2006-09.
– SDSU Assistant Coach Bryan Petersen played two years at Iowa State (2007- 09), starting all 64 games he appeared in for the Cyclones. He averaged 6.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, while having 178 assists and 48 steals. He shot .380 from deep, connecting on 97 3-pointers.
– The 2008-09 Iowa State squad included the following coaching staff from both teams in Thursday’s game:
T.J. Otzelberger (ISU Assistant), Erik Crawford (ISU Asst. Director of Opps), Eric Henderson (ISU Learning Specialist), Tyler Glidden (ISU Manager), Bryan Petersen (ISU Player)
With a victory on Thursday, No. 4 Iowa State would advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The game would be played on Saturday at a time to be determined.
