CHICAGO — The Big Ten Conference announced Thursday that single-session tickets for the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship second and third rounds are now on sale.

The Big Ten Conference will host NCAA second- and third-round action at the United Center in Chicago today and Sunday.

Single-session tickets are $81 each and can be ordered at www.ncaa.com/mbbtickets, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at all Ticketmaster outlets and at the United Center box office from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT.

NCAA Championship play at the United Center gets under way today as No. 2 Notre Dame plays No. 15 Akron at 1:40 p.m., followed by No. 7 Texas A&M against No. 10 Florida State.

The day’s second session begins at 7:20 p.m.  with No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 14 Saint Peter’s and No. 6 Georgetown against No. 11 VCU.