If basketball is a game of confidence, there is no question that Chris Babb has had plenty of it in recent weeks.

The redshirt senior sank three of his six 3-pointers in ISU’s 34-point victory against TCU on Saturday. Those numbers are just a fraction of Babb’s recent shooting streak.

“Babb is just playing with so much confidence right now,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg. “You always know what you get out of Babb on the defensive end, but the way he’s been knocking down shots and shooting the ball, it’s making us pretty tough to guard.”

After starting slow beyond the arc in ISU’s first six Big 12 games — he shot 9-of-33 for a 27.3 shooting percentage — Babb has turned it up in the team’s six most recent conference games.

In the past six games, Babb has gone 19-of-33 on 3-pointers for a 57.6 shooting percentage and has made at least three 3-pointers in five of the six contests.

“I get a lot of open shots throughout the game,” Babb said. “I don’t really shoot a lot of contested shots.”

Those numbers include Iowa State’s game against Baylor in which Babb missed all three of his 3-point attempts. With that game excluded, the guard has gone 19-of-30 in five of the team’s last six games.

The sharp jump for Babb started shortly after the return of guard Bubu Palo. While Palo didn’t play in the first five conference games, his return has meant fewer minutes for Babb.

In the first five Big 12 games when the team was without Palo, Babb averaged 38 minutes per game. In seven games since Palo’s return, Babb is averaging just more than 34 minutes per game, and his numbers are rising because of it.

“He’s getting some rest now,” Hoiberg said. “Bubu’s giving him an opportunity to sit out a for few minutes in each half, which may contribute to his offensive surge as of late. You get those few minutes to get your legs back, and then you come back, and those shots are easier.”

Babb has already made nine more 3-pointers this season than he did all of last season with six more games remaining. That is thanks in large part due to his recent stretch of confident shooting.

“Confidence is a funny thing in the game of basketball,” Hoiberg said. “When you have it, the game’s pretty simple; when you don’t have it, it’s hard to dribble that ball across half court.

“Chris is playing with a ton of confidence right now.”

Iowa State is also confident as a team beyond the arc. The Cyclones lead the nation averaging 9.5 3-pointers per game, and they have made at least 10 3-pointers in six of their last seven games.

“Confidence is a good thing in basketball, and once you get on a roll, you just kind of keep shooting them,” Babb said. “I think everybody on the team is kind of feeling like everybody’s shots are going in.

“It’s a good feeling for us.”