Iowa State has had some tough losses in its current 10-game losing streak, but perhaps none have been tougher than the team’s very first Big 12 game.

The Cyclones (14-14, 1-12) dropped a tight 63-62 game to Nebraska on Jan. 8 that kicked off the conference schedule and began a trend of losing close games that hasn’t been flipped.

Coach Fred Hoiberg’s team lost on a free throw with 0.4 seconds left that night and will be working for a better result when they host Nebraska (18-9, 6-7) on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.

“We’ve had a lot of tough ones, but having that one on the road, we were right there — just looking back at it we wish we could take some of those plays away,” said senior guard Diante Garrett. “We’re going to look at it and try and learn from it.”

Senior forward Jamie Vanderbeken has missed the team’s last three games since injuring his ankle against Kansas. A decision has not been made on his status for Saturday, but the 6-foot-11-inch shooter is hoping to bring his 11.3 points per game back to the lineup.

“The ankle is looking better, it’s just a little achy, but I’ll be ready to go for Saturday,” Vanderbeken said. “I’ve been wanting to say that for two weeks now, it feels good.”

With all the size Nebraska has inside, Vanderbeken’s presence was essential in the first game and could be a huge difference Saturday.

“The more size we can throw at them, the better,” Vanderbeken said.

Jorge Brian Diaz is 6 feet, 11 inches and averages 10.2 points per game. Junior center Andre Almeida is the same height as Diaz but weighs 315 pounds and has played important relief minutes for the Cornhuskers. Sophomore forward Brandon Ubel is 6 feet, 10 inches but plays a little bit like Vanderbeken, enjoying more of a shooter’s role.

With all that length and Iowa State’s lack of it, there could be a contrast of styles.

“They like to pound the ball inside, so we’re going to try and keep it out of the paint and make them a jump-shooting team,” said guard Bubu Palo. “Their strength is inside, we’ve been having foul trouble, which has forced us to go to smaller lineups, and we have trouble rebounding. If we can get Jamie back, that will really help us on the defensive end and the offensive end.”

The Cornhuskers aren’t polar opposites of the Cyclones, but the two teams aren’t going to play the game similarly in Ames. Nebraska coach Doc Sadler likes to slow the pace down and has 10 players averaging at least 13 minutes a game.

Seven players average at least five points per game.

Hoiberg has his team play up-tempo, and just eight players average more than five minutes per game, providing Vanderbeken is available.

“Kansas State did a great job on Nebraska [Wednesday] but three of their bigs fouled out by doing that — we don’t have that luxury to have the depth to be able to play them like that,” Hoiberg said. “You have to come out and match their physicalness. If you don’t, they’re really going to take advantage of you.”

The Cyclones haven’t won since Jan. 15 but now have back-to-back home games before closing the regular season at Kansas State, another team Iowa State played to a one-point game. Senior players Garrett, Vanderbeken and Jake Anderson sense the importance of getting a win in front of the Hilton Coliseum crowd before their time is up.

“Those guys obviously really want to finish strong, and we want to go out and win the rest of our games, so we’re going to go out and do that for them,” Hoiberg said. “Our fans have been great. You won’t find another team in the country that’s last place in the standings and getting the type of support we’re getting.”

Saturday’s game is scheduled to tip off at 12:45 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum. The meeting will be the final conference matchup between Nebraska and Iowa State in basketball as the Cornhuskers leave for the Big 10 next season. Iowa State leads the all-time series with Nebraska at Hilton Coliseum 61-48.