Things have been better for Cyclone

basketball. Things have also been much worse.

Now, coming off a loss to then-No.

15 Michigan, in which Iowa State looked off on both ends of the

floor for much of the contest, it is easy to assume things aren’t

all that great for the ISU men.

But coach Fred Hoiberg and Co. have

a good idea what they need to fix and are committed to figuring it

out.

“It’s something a lot of teams are

going through right now, is that consistent effort, fighting

through those tough times,” Hoiberg said. “That’s what this team

has to continue to try to strive for, is to be a team that doesn’t

only play well when things are going well for us.”

The Cyclones are now set for a

matchup with Prairie View A&M, and while the team said they are

focused on getting the next game, they are also focused on the

upcoming stretch of games leading into Big 12 play.

Senior guard Scott Christopherson

said finding consistent play and simply adding to the win column

are most important in the near future.

“At this point we just need to

string together some wins,” Christopherson said. “And use every day

as an opportunity to get better. This is where our team needs to

come together and mature a little bit and mesh together. And I

think if we do that we’ll give ourselves a chance to be successful

the rest of the year.”

Before the season, many wondered

what the Cyclones would do on the offensive end with so many guys

who clearly want the ball.

Forward Royce White — who had 22

points and 13 rebounds against Michigan — said on Monday that

problem has led to confusion at times, and that the team needs to

find who it is on the offensive end. When they do, he said things

will start to improve.

“We have to find our identity,”

White said. “We have so many weapons that it’s hard to find a go-to

thing or a go-to identity on offense. That’s how you can have so

many weapons and go out and shoot 30 percent. Once we get those

things together and running on all cylinders, we’ll be

fine.”

The players are well aware that

things need to improve, and no one doubts their ability to make

those improvements. Christopherson echoed White’s comments about

finding each other on the court, but said he is still not sure what

exactly it’s going to take to fix it.

“I don’t necessarily know the magic

recipe,” Christopherson said. “As a team, we’re just… stagnant or

whatever on both ends of the court. We’re just not clicking

together right now. … Some teams kind of roll over and quit, and

other teams put their head down and work through it. I guess we

have to decide which one of those teams we want to be.”

The Cyclones tip off against Prairie

View A&M at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Hilton.