The ISU men’s basketball team will attempt something on Jan. 30 it hasn’t done in 25 years — beat Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

In the Hoiberg era, the Cyclones (14-5, 4-2 Big 12) are 0-2 against the Cowboys (13-5, 3-3) in Stillwater, Okla.

“Obviously for us it’s been very tough, we haven’t won there since ’88,” Hoiberg said. “We certainly have had our chances the last two years. We lost in overtime two years ago, and last year Nash hits the shot.”

A new Cowboys team is awaiting Iowa State this year. Leaving the helm of point guard is the 5-foot-9-inch, 165-pound, lights-out shooting skill that was Keiton Page.

Cyclone fans will remember Page scoring 21 points at Hilton Coliseum last year, including a pair of free throws that put the Cowboys ahead 68-65 before a Tyrus McGee transition 3-pointer and a game-winning Scott Christopherson 3-pointer ended it.

The new point guard at the helm of the Cowboys is the 6-foot-4-inch, 225-pound frame, No. 1-ranked shooting guard in the freshman class Marcus Smart.

Hoiberg has heard about Smart before from none other than Florida coach Billy Donovan, who as the coach of the USA U-18 team had Smart on his roster.

“I remember talking to Billy Donovan last year and their U-18 team; he thought Marcus Smart was their best player,” Hoiberg said. “Just with his overall ability to get everybody involved and make the right play.”

Smart is currently ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 for scoring at 13.2 points per game, along with a top-10 mark in assists and leads the Big 12 in steals with 2.7 per game.

“He’s a beast,” Hoiberg said of Smart. “So we’re going to have to get creative in our matchups and try to throw some different looks at them. He’s a kid that can do it all.”

Oklahoma State doesn’t just have Smart, it also boasts a number of scoring options. Fellow freshman Phil Forte dropped 26 in Oklahoma State’s last win against West Virginia, including six 3-pointers.

Also in the starting lineup is former top-10 recruit Le’Bryan Nash, who Hoiberg said “is a guy who can go out at any moment and get you 30.”

That’s not even the leading scorer Markell Brown, a 6-foot-3-inch guard who averages just less than 15 points per game.

Iowa State’s Chris Babb held the Big 12’s leading scorer, Kansas State’s Rodney McGruder, to under his seasonal averages in the win on Saturday, and will most likely shoulder the load in chasing Smart or Nash around, as he did to McGruder for 40 minutes.

“I think Chris is a guy who can guard anybody,” Hoiberg said. “He can play different players, he’s shown that. He can play physical guys, he can chase shooters around.”

Regardless of Vegas’ odds going in, the Cyclones still haven’t won in Stillwater in 25 years. After a players-only meeting before the game against Kansas State, the team has picked up its play and is expecting to win.

“It’s tough to win,” said Tyrus McGee, the Big 12’s leading 3-point shooter. “Like I said, it’s been about 25 years since Iowa State has won down there, so we’re looking forward going down there and trying to get that victory Wednesday.”