THE FIRST LOOK

UCLA (23-7) vs. IOWA STATE (22-8)

Midwest Regional, San Antonio

Thursday, TBA

* IOWA STATE AT A GLANCE: The Cyclones picked off Illinois State, 69-57, in the first round, behind center Kelvin Cato’s incredible 29-point, eight-blocked shot, 12-rebound domination; then squeezed by No. 3 Cincinnati on Saturday, 67-66, with a zone defense that denied Bearcat forward Danny Fortson. Guard Dedric Willoughby nailed three-pointers and forward Kenny Pratt drove his way to 21 points. Iowa State was a top 10 poll team twice this season, and Tim Floyd is everybody’s favorite rising coach, but two defeats against Kansas and losses to Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma State late in the season cooled down talk of a Cyclone run to the Final Four.

* UCLA AT A GLANCE: Now it’s 11 victories in a row, including a 109-75 first-round cruise past Charleston Southern and a helter-skelter 96-83 scamper past No. 7 Xavier to get to the Sweet 16. Both games, though, were played at a high-octane, run-to-the-rack pace, which is a Bruin speciality--and something Iowa State will strive to avoid. Though Cameron Dollar and UCLA’s flying wing players have been spotlighted, center Jelani McCoy has put together two strong games in the tournament, including 21 points on 8-for-9 shooting in Game 1 and five blocked shots and 5-for-6 shooting against Xavier.

IOWA STATE PROBABLE STARTERS

* F--Shawn Bankhead (6-6, 215), No. 31

* F--Kenny Pratt (6-5, 230), No. 42

* C--Kelvin Cato (6-11, 245), No. 13

* G--Jacy Holloway (6-0, 160), No. 10

* G--Dedric Willoughby (6-3, 180), No. 22

IOWA STATE KEY RESERVES

* C--Tony Rampton (6-11, 255), No. 55

* F/C--Klay Edwards (6-9, 215), No. 40

* F--Stevie Johnson (6-5, 220), No. 23

* G--Brad Johnson (6-6, 200), No. 4

UCLA PROBABLE STARTERS

* F--Charles O’Bannon (6-5, 209) No. 13

* F--J.R. Henderson (6-9, 223) No. 52

* C--Jelani McCoy (6-9 1/2, 220) No. 34

* G--Toby Bailey (6-5, 205) No. 12

* G--Cameron Dollar (5-11, 189) No. 5

UCLA KEY RESERVES

* G/F Kris Johnson (6-3 1/2, 222) No. 54

* F--Bob Myers (6-6 1/2, 227) No. 24

* G--Brandon Loyd (5-10, 182) No. 20

THE MATCHUPS

* GUARDS: Bailey vs. Willoughby ought to be a tremendous physical and mental match-up--two players who can score from all over and can also nudge and chase on defense. Dollar has been playing at top form, and will want to snap at Holloway hard enough to get Iowa State’s patterned set offense knocked off-rhythym. If you take the ball out of Holloway’s hands, the Cyclone offense is in trouble. He had 163 assists, and no other Iowa State player was within 100 of that mark.

* FORWARDS: Very big contrast here: The blue-collar bunch of Pratt, Bankhead, Edwards and Johnson against UCLA’s sleek cast of O’Bannon, Henderson and Johnson. The Cyclones’ chances rest with their ability to neutralize the Bruin forwards. Floyd’s defensive philosophy is predicated on denying the opponents’ best two offensive players from touching the ball. With UCLA, that might mean O’Bannon and Henderson.

* CENTER: Two long-armed jumping-jacks who will swat away anything soft coming up near the basket. Both Cato and McCoy had break-out games in the first two rounds, but neither are really major options on the offense. Will they cancel each other out, or will McCoy’s emergence as a low-post ballhandler, feeding cutters, draw Cato away from the basket and into possible foul trouble?

* INTANGIBLES: In a strange coincidence, this is the third time these two teams have met in the tournament in nine years, but first in a non-first round game. No. 7-seeded UCLA beat No. 10 Iowa State, 84-74, in a first-round Southeast Region game in 1989, and then again as the No. 9 over the No. 8 Cyclones, 81-70, in a 1993 first-round game in the West Region. Overall, the Cyclones are 0-5 against UCLA.

* COACHING: Floyd, 43 and in his third season at Iowa State, is one of the hottest commodities in coaching. He was the leading candidate for the vacant Louisiana State job (he led New Orleans to the tournament twice in six seasons), but declined to pursue it. He’s 231-111 over his career, and 69-28 at Iowa State. UCLA Coach Steve Lavin took over in turmoil, started out 3-3 and turned the season into success by preaching discipline and work ethic to his high-flying team.

* FINAL ANALYSIS: This will be UCLA’s first tense struggle--maybe parallel to the Tyus Edney victory over Missouri in the 1995 second round. Iowa State can frustrate anybody, especially a team that still sometimes can break down in its half-court offense. But with McCoy rising and Bailey due for a hot-shooting game, the Bruins should find a way.