UConn's opening-round NCAA tourney opponent, Bucknell, features a local kid. Brian Fitzpatrick is a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward from Cheshire. He attended Northfield Mount Herman Prep.

Fitzpatrick didn't play this season as a transfer from Penn.

Tyler Olander, a Mansfield resident, knows Fitzpatrick a bit from AAU. Olander played with him for a few games while playing for his brother Ryan's Connecticut Gold AAU team a few years ago.

What else to know about Bucknell? The Bison are 25-8 and went 13-1 in the Patriot League, beating Lafayette in the conference championship game on Friday, 72-57.

The team is led by Mike Muscala, a 6-foot-11 sophomore center who averages 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds, and Bryson Johnson, a sophomore guard who's hit 47 percent of his 3-pointers this season.