Playing just two games in the last three weeks has given the ISU men’s basketball team plenty of time to practice.

Iowa State (10-3) beat Yale on Jan. 1 in its first game since Dec. 19, but had yet another week off before the start of Big 12 play. The start to the team’s 18-game conference schedule begins Wednesday with a difficult road test against No. 6 Kansas.

“It’s tough not playing in games in this long stretch,” said senior guard Chris Babb. “You always get tired of playing the same person over and over [in practice], so it’s getting heated. At the same time we’re getting ready for these games.”

Iowa State’s win against Yale on New Year’s Day didn’t come easily. Iowa State trailed by as many as 12 points, including 35-27 at halftime before using a second-half run to escape ending the nonconference portion of the schedule with a loss.

The team has since had plenty of time to digest the sluggish performance and look ahead to a difficult Big 12 schedule that begins with the Jayhawks (12-1) in one of the nation’s most difficult environments.

“They’re scary good, especially at home,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg. “Their record speaks for itself over the years at Allen Fieldhouse, and they do such a good job of making team’s uncomfortable.”

Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996-97, Kansas has lost only eight times at home. Three of those losses have come to Iowa State (2000, 2001, 2005).

The Cyclones snapped their 13-game skid to the Jayhawks in the last meeting between the teams on Jan. 28 last year in Ames. In that game, Iowa State beat No. 5 Kansas 72-64.

Through the years, the Cyclones have embraced the underdog role.

“It’s always fun to be the underdog,” said forward Melvin Ejim. “At Iowa State we’re the underdog more often than not, so you get used to it. Any time we can play a top-10 team, a top-25 team, it’s just a chance to put Iowa State on the map.”

One key to any Big 12 success this season for Iowa State may come down to the production from the bench. So far this season the bench has accounted for 33.1 points per game.

The Cyclones have have received averages of 13.4 points per game from Tyrus McGee and 10.8 points per game from Georges Niang.

Last season Iowa State fell in Lawrence, Kan. 82-73, but the Cyclones led by three points at halftime, 43-40. Hoiberg said beating Kansas requires a different approach.

“You almost have to take it like rounds in a boxing match,” Hoiberg said. “There’s eight of them with the media timeouts, and you try to go out there and win the majority of them. If you can do that, you’re going to give yourself a chance.

“Obviously, that first round being the most important. And the last round.”

As the Cyclones prepare to begin Big 12 play, they know that slow starts and sluggish performances will no longer be acceptable.

“If you don’t bring it, you will lose,” Ejim said. “This is not nonconference play where we have time to adjust.”