Cylones hope to take momentum from last year’s win in Stillwater

AMES - As much as last season's triple-overtime win at Oklahoma State did for Iowa State's win/loss record, it did even more for the team's confidence.

Scoring a road victory in a place the Cyclones hadn't won in since 1988 was part of the building block that could be used to lead to more wins away from home. That's exactly what ISU Coach Fred Hoiberg hopes happens again this season.

'It showed us we can come back and win when the odds are stacked up against you,” Hoiberg said. 'That's important for your team to do and it's something where if you can go out and get a big one like that, you can beat anybody.”

No. 14 Iowa State will travel to Stillwater, Okla. to face No. 22 Oklahoma State on Wednesday, looking for its first road win since Jan. 10 at West Virginia.

The makeup of the one-point win in triple overtime last season, highlighted by a clutch 3-pointer by Naz Long to force the third overtime, can certainly be the example on how to win on the road again.

'You're going to hit adversity, there's no doubt about it, during some point of the game,” Hoiberg said. 'What are you going to do to get through that adversity?”

'It's going to take us staying together, grouping up in huddles and getting everybody on the same page,” Long said. 'When you're on the road, there's no doubt they're going to go on a run.”

Allowing runs is the nature of the Cyclones' (18-6, 8-4) up-and-down style of play, but at times, Hoiberg hasn't seen a response to the runs like he wants to. Part of that, he said, is staying under control and chipping away at leads little by little so a response to adversity can even be initiated.

The Cowboys (17-8, 7-6) get 8.6 steals per game and like to force turnovers, so taking care of the ball will be crucial for Iowa State. Most of that can be countered by constant communication on the floor, which junior Georges Niang said has lacked in times of adversity.

'That's the thing we've been working on the last couple days, just coming together when stuff isn't going right and always staying positive,” Niang said. 'Fred does a good job of showing that to us and we just have to follow in his footsteps.”

Iowa State and Oklahoma State's first meeting this season came on Jan. 6, with the Cyclones picking up the two-point win in Hilton Coliseum thanks to 17 points and a game-saving block by Dustin Hogue. The Cowboys do have constant threats from outside, though, with Phil Forte, and can work inside with Le'Bryan Nash and Michael Cobbins.

In Iowa State's last two road games at Kansas and Oklahoma, second-half spurts by the home team took away the Cyclones' ability to have a chance at the end. Staying even-keeled and communicating can, once again, give Iowa State a chance at the end, which Hoiberg said, is where it starts.

'When you go on the road against a tough team like we're going to face in these next two,” Hoiberg said, 'you want to give yourselves an opportunity at the end.”

The Cyclones are at Texas on Saturday.

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