The second television in Bill Fennelly’s office is getting plenty of use this week in the days leading up to the Sweet 16.

And it’s not necessarily to help the coaching staff watch more game film.

Just four days before his team is set to take on undefeated No. 1 Connecticut in the Dayton Region semifinals, Fennelly’s flat screen is instead tuned to ESPN, where his beloved St. Louis Cardinals are in the midst of a Spring Training game.

“If you’ve watched as much video of Connecticut as us, you’d want something else to watch too,” Fennelly said.

His need for a distraction is more than understandable.

It’s been 719 days since the Huskies (35-0) last experienced defeat, which came in a 82-73 upset at the hands of Stanford in the 2008 Final Four.

Since then, coach Geno Auriemma’s team has strung together a 74-game win streak and is widely being referred to as the most dominant team in the history of the sport.

“Everybody knows what’s coming,” Fennelly said. “Not many people can say they show up for work every single day and do it at a very high level, and they’ve done it 74 times in a row. It’s amazing the way they play, and they like the idea that they’re better than everyone else.”

Look no further than the numbers to help illustrate their story. The Huskies lead the NCAA in nine of 18 major statistical categories, have beaten opponents by an average of 35.9 points per game this season, and have two players that will likely battle each other for national player of the year awards.

Most recent additions to their parade of demolitions include pastings of Southern and Temple, which they beat by a combined 110 points in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Numbers can be awed for hours on end, but there really isn’t much else to say except that Connecticut is really, really good.

The ominous task ahead has Fennelly scratching his head as the staff attempts to come up with new, innovative ways to try to take down what is perhaps the largest Goliath sports has ever seen.

Preparing for and ultimately playing against the Huskies may be extremely frustrating, but as he’s stated several times, it’s much better than doing nothing.

“We could be lifting weights right now,” said junior guard Kelsey Bolte. “Yes we have to play them, but it’s better than if we had lost in front of our great fans. I’d rather be here than the alternative, which is not being in the Sweet 16.”

Connecticut’s dominance starts with superstars Maya Moore and Tina Charles, who each average better than 18 points and eight rebounds per game.

Moore ranks in the top 200 individually in eight different statistical categories — essentially every category except free throw and three-point percentages.

Adding Charles, who is about as dominant of a post presence as there is in the nation, to the mix presents any team with a giant challenge to just consider those two alone.

“Maya Moore may be the most complete player in the country,” Fennelly said. “(Charles) can run the court and score the ball, and all of their players play extremely hard. Any kind of skill set that you need to play basketball, they have it, and they do it at a very high rate of speed and efficiency.”

While Connecticut coasted to a 90-36 victory over Temple in the second round (they led 55-12 at halftime), Iowa State took a much different, more heart-attack inducing route to their second consecutive Sweet 16.

The Cyclones (25-7) didn’t hold a lead against UW-Green Bay until 48-47 at the 9:07 mark of the second half, and led for just 3:17 the entire game in a 60-56 victory.

Senior Alison Lacey played significant minutes against UW-Green Bay for just the second time since returning from her three-week battle with pneumonia, a sickness she is still recovering from.

The Canberra, Australia native will be limited in practice on Thursday and Friday in hopes of leading to optimal health against UConn on Sunday.

“I’m doing good,” Lacey said. “The last game kind of took it out of me because it was a battle to the end and I was definitely sore afterwards. But I feel much better and we’ll see how I do in practice and how my body feels.”

Iowa State and Connecticut have met just once previously, in a game that is still being talked about by residents of both Ames and Storrs.

Underdog Iowa State knocked off the Huskies 64-58 in the 1999 Sweet 16 in Cincinnati, which is just an hour south of the arena the two will clash at this weekend.

Tip-off from the University of Dayton Arena is scheduled for 12:04 ET and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Connecticut/Iowa State Comparison

                                         UConn (NCAA rank)             ISU (NCAA rank)

Scoring Offense                      82.1 ppg (2)                      66.3 ppg (101)

Scoring Defense                     46.2 ppg (1)                      52.9 ppg (8)

Field Goal %                              52.2 % (1)                         43.3% (34)

3-point %                                    34.9 % (55)                       38.5 % (5)

3-point % defense                     23.9% (1)                          28.5% (28)

Rebound Margin                      13.1 rpg (2)                         8.7 rpg (9)

Assists                                       19.9 apg (1)                     14.3 apg (68)

Assist:Turnover Ratio                 1.34 (1)                              1.01 (22)

More on UConn:

Connecticut is beating teams by an average of 35.9 ppg this season.

The lowest margin of victory this season is 14 points (St. John’s, 66-52)

They have beat their two NCAA opponents by a combined 110 points (186-76)

They are on a 74-game win streak, last losing to Stanford on 4/6/08 in the Final Four

Every win during that streak has come by double-digits

They have not lost a game in 719 consecutive days