Cyclones in need of a bounce-back win on road at Kansas State

AMES - The loss Wednesday night to Baylor was Iowa State's first at home this season and the first in Hilton Coliseum in more than a year.

Still, Coach Fred Hoiberg and the Cyclones say they aren't hitting the panic button.

With three games left in the regular season, Hoiberg's confidence in his guys isn't about to falter now.

'I don't doubt this group,” Hoiberg said. 'We've bounced back after tough losses over the course of the season very well. We've got some learning to do from this last one, but we'll also move on to Kansas State.”

No. 12 Iowa State is at Kansas State today (3 p.m., ESPN2) for its next-to-last league game away from home. The Wildcats (14-15, 7-9) are coming off a home win Monday against Big 12-leader Kansas.

ISU center Jameel McKay has a pretty good idea of what to expect.

'Another huge crowd, a team that's hungry,” McKay said. 'A lot of people don't have them making the tournament right now, but being in the Big 12 if they can string together a few good wins they can give themselves an opportunity to still possibly make the tournament. I know they're going to want to win.”

Kansas State has lost seven of its last nine games, but the wins were at home against Oklahoma and Kansas.

Junior forward Georges Niang said the way to refocus is for the Cyclones to look at themselves in the mirror and not let successes or failures dictate the mood of the team.

'I think we really just need to focus on us and not read what's going on about us and what people are saying about us and just focus on winning,” Niang said. 'Winning, that stuff will come along with that. I think we just need to stay away from all that type of stuff.”

Mishandling success at times isn't diminishing the quality of play Iowa State has experienced at times this year. Just last week, the Cyclones (20-7, 10-5) won two conference road games for the first time since 2006 and are tied for second in the Big 12 with West Virginia and Oklahoma.

The necessity to go hard for 40 minutes can be traced back to what followed a dunk by McKay against Baylor. The Cyclones went up by eight points with 8:28 to go, but a barrage of seven 3-pointers by Baylor gave it the permanent lead and turned momentum on a dime.

'As a player sometimes you have the tendency to say, ‘They're not going to make them all,'” McKay said. 'But I think looking back on it they had some pretty open shots. So we have to have a better urgency defensively as a team and just communicate better.”

The Cyclones will host the Sooners and finish the regular season at TCU, but the date with Kansas State could serve as a tone-setter.

'I don't know if you say getting embarrassed a little bit,” Hoiberg said of the feeling after losing at home. 'They find a way to get back to work. They do a good job of getting over those tough losses when they have them.”