When Kansas comes to town Feb. 27, it will be a team fighting for something beyond the regular season. The ISU squad it will run into, however, may feel just as desperate in the final games before the postseason.

After winning the first meeting 78-75 in overtime at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan., the Jayhawks (16-10, 7-8 Big 12) will travel to Hilton Coliseum to take on the Cyclones (19-6, 10-5), who felt like they let one slip away.

“I think they understand where they are,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly of Kansas. “When you get to this point, kids read about it, hear about it, talk about it. As coaches you always try to shield your team from these kinds of conversations, but you can’t get away from it. We know what’s coming and we know what to expect. Certainly a team that beat us the first time.”

Late in the game between Kansas and Iowa State on Jan. 30, the Cyclones were leading by 18 points with 8:56 left in the game after a layup by center Anna Prins. The Jayhawks would go on a 28-10 run to close out the half and force overtime, where they would eventually seize control and go on to win by three points.

Prins remembers the loss all too well and feels like this rematch is one that is always in the back of her mind.

“Once that game ended, we knew this one was a while down the road,” Prins said. “We told ourselves to tuck it at the back of our mind and remember what happened and just remember what we took from that game.”

Forward Hallie Christofferson, who finished with 18 points in the loss, also has the sense that the game at Kansas is still on everyone’s minds. She believes playing at home will make for an added boost of energy. Christofferson credited the Jayhawks for not giving up in the first game.

“I don’t remember much about it, but we just kind of stopped playing, I guess,” Christofferson said. “They just did not stop playing, and they kept their composure and just fought back until the end.”

Prins also feels her team learned a lot from seeing its 18-point lead evaporate in a span of just less than nine minutes. It taught the team that it can’t let up until the game is decided.

That lesson has gone on to help Iowa State in almost all of its games since.

“This team is definitely unique, and we each bring something to this team and that’s really special,” Prins said. “I think every game, we’ve been taking something from it, and Kansas is a team that they consistently, when they are down, can come back.”

Tipoff between the Cyclones and Jayhawks is slated at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 at Hilton Coliseum.