(RESENDING)

Iowa (21-11) vs No. 23 Cincinnati (24-7)             2:50 pm EST
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INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Still smarting from its quarterfinal 
loss in the Conference USA tournament, Cincinnati is looking for
a fresh start.

The seventh-seeded Bearcats face Iowa in a first-round game of
the Austin Region on Thursday.

Cincinnati, which will join the Big East next season, lost a
chance to win a final C-USA title by suffering an 80-68 loss to
South Florida on March 10, breaking a six-game winning streak.

Jason Maxiell, who has four double-doubles in six games, scored
21 points against South Florida. Eric Hicks added 18 for the
Bearcats, who won 78 percent of their C-USA games and four
conference titles.

Despite losing twice to Louisville and once to Illinois and Wake
Forest, Cincinnati is one of the better defensive teams in the
nation, ranking first in field goal defense and third in blocked
shots.

The Bearcats are making their 14th consecutive appearance and
24th overall in the NCAA Tournament, winning the championship in
1960 and 1961.  Their most recent visit to the Final Four was
in 1992.

Iowa is making its 21st appearance in the NCAA Tournament, its
first since losing a second-round game to Kentucky in 2001, and
has played in three Final Fours.

After dropping nine of 13 games during the middle of the season,
the 10th-seeded Hawkeyes won five in a row before losing to
Wisconsin at the buzzer in the Big Ten Conference semifinals,
59-56, on Saturday.

Greg Brunner, who tied the game with three seconds to go,
averages more than 14 points and eight rebounds and has helped
fill the void after leading scorer Pierre Pierce was dismissed
from the team for legal reasons in February.

The two teams have not met since 1980.  Cincinnati leads the
series with Iowa, 5-2.

st 03-17-05 10:39 et