Monte Morris feels like he has the cure to the slow starts ailing the No. 16 ISU men’s basketball team.

Over the first six minutes of both halves Jan. 29 night against No. 6 Kansas, Iowa State was outscored 36-18. Part of that is a result of the Jayhawks starting 5-of-7 from the field and hitting two triples, but the team knows something has been missing early on and Morris feels like he can provide the spark.

“I feel like if I started both halves, I could probably just give a better boost,” Morris said. “We’ve been coming out flat; I don’t know why and how, if it’s defense or if we’re not ready. I feel like if I was in there first half, I could’ve given them a boost because it seems like when I’m in there everybody plays a little bit faster.”

Morris jumped into the game three minutes in both halves and finished each time, tallying a total of 35 minutes — second only to Georges Niang on the night.

ISU head coach Fred Hoiberg has kept Morris in the sixth-man role because of his energy he provides off the bench, allowing DeAndre Kane to slide to the two and play off the ball where he can exploit mismatches.

“Our tempo picks up,” Hoiberg said of his freshman point guard. “He obviously takes great care of the basketball and he makes the right plays defensively. Usually when I put him in, it doesn’t matter if you start, it matters if you’re in there at the end and Monte more often than not is in there at the end of the game.”

So if Morris is getting starter’s minutes, will he eventually make the jump to a starter, possibly in time for the Sooners on Saturday?

“We’ll evaluate all that in the next couple days,” Hoiberg said on whether he’d start Morris. “He’s just been such a spark for us off the bench. I guess that’s the reason I’ve been having him in that role, but we’ll evaluate things here in the next couple days.”

Heading into Saturday’s crucial bout against No. 23 Oklahoma (17-4, 6-2 Big 12), the biggest concern is battling against one of the Big 12’s best rebounding teams, led by Ryan Spangler.

In the first meeting, Oklahoma handed Iowa State its first loss of the season and the 6-foot-8, 230-pound Spangler grabbed 15 rebounds and scored 16 points spurring the Sooners to a 22-2 advantage in second chance points.

“We didn’t expect them to go that hard and this time we’ll be more prepared,” said Melvin Ejim about the Sooner rebounding. “We know it’s going to be a grind and they’re going to be real physical down low, so we just need to continue to box out and limit those second chance points.”