UNR to face Iowa State in NCAA Tournament

The University of Nevada, Reno, faces a tough opponent in its first game in the NCAA Tournament.

The Wolf Pack, who won the Mountain West conference tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday, will play Iowa State at 7 p.m. PDT Thursday (truTV) in Milwaukee, Wis. The Cyclones, the Big 12 Tournament champs, are the No. 5 seed while UNR is the No. 12 seed.

Here are the team capsules:

UNR

Reno, 28-6

Nickname: Wolf Pack. Coach: Eric Mussleman

Conference: Mountain West. Bid: MW champion

Region: Midwest. Seed: No. 12

Tournament Record: 4-6, 6 years. Last appearance: 2007

Scoring: Team (80.0); Marcus Marshall 19.8; Cameron Oliver 15.8; Jordan Caroline 14.8; D.J. Fenner 14.1

Rebounds: Team (38.9); Jordan Caroline 9.2; Cameron Oliver 8.7; Lindsey Drew 5.0

Assists/Turnovers: Team (16.1/11.1); Lindsey Drew 4.8/1.9; Marcus Marshall 3.6/1.6

3-pointers: Team (.385); Marcus Marshall 113; D.J. Fenner 64; Cameron Oliver 62

Last Ten: 9-1

The Skinny: The Wolf Pack beat Colorado State to win the Mountain West Tournament. Getting to the line is key for Nevada. The Wolf Pack have attempted 254 more free throws than opponents

IOWA STATE

Ames, 23-10

Nickname: Cyclones. Coach: Steve Prohm

Conference: Big 12. Bid: Big 12 champion

Region: Midwest. Seed: No. 5

Tournament Record: 18-18, 18 years. Last appearance: 2016

Scoring: Team (80.9); Monte Morris 16.3; Naz Mitrou-Long 15.5; Deonte Burton 14.8; Matt Thomas 12.0

Rebounds: Team (34.9); Deonte Burton 6.2; Monte Morris 4.8; Naz Mitrou-Long 4.7; Darrell Bowie 4.1

Assists/Turnovers: Team (15.8/10.2); Monte Morris 6.1/1.1; Naz Mitrou-Long 2.8/1.7

3-pointers: Team (.402); Naz Mitrou-Long 94; Matt Thomas 84; Monte Morris 51; Donald Jackson 43; Deonte Burton 40

Last Ten: 9-1

The Skinny: The Cyclones are a dark-horse Final Four contender — if they’re hitting 3s. Bigger teams can push Iowa State around in the post, but the Cyclones have shown the ability to win despite a sizeable disadvantage on the boards.