In its last four Big 12 games, Iowa State has fallen behind early and been unable to fully recover.

A 48-26 halftime deficit at Missouri, surrendering a 10-0 run to Texas Tech, a double-digit deficit for much of the first half against Oklahoma and allowing a 16-0 run and a 17-0 run both in the first half against Colorado have led to the Cyclones (14-9, 1-7 in Big 12) in first-half holes. Now, they’re in the midst of a five-game losing streak, dropping them to the bottom of the Big 12.

“I thought our lack of energy was the reason against Texas Tech. We just weren’t ourselves,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg. “The other night against Oklahoma, I thought we put our heads down. You can’t do that. In this league, you’ve got to compete for a full 40 minutes.”

The Cyclones will get another chance to end their Big 12 woes Saturday when the struggling Kansas State Wildcats (15-8, 3-5) come to Hilton Coliseum.

The Wildcats, predicted by many basketball experts to compete at the top of the Big 12 before the season began, struggled to a 1-5 start in conference play.

But, Kansas State has won two of their last three, with both wins coming at home — an eight-point win over Baylor and a 16-point win over Nebraska — and is headed in the opposite direction of the Cyclones in the Big 12 standings.

“Our guys are continuing to work, they’re continuing to play hard,” Hoiberg said. “It’s just a group that really needs to find a way to win the game to get that confidence back up.”

The team’s confidence could understandably be shaken after the poor start in Big 12 play.

After starting the non-conference season with a promising 13-2 record, the lack of big bodies inside and depth off the bench have revealed themselves through the first half of the conference season.

“We’re doing fine,” said ISU guard Diante Garrett. “Every team would be sad losing these close games. Just building from where we’ve been playing at.”

The ISU offense is still producing, although production is down from 77.7 points per game in non-conference play to 72.75 per game in Big 12, but the defense has surrendered 21 more points per game in conference play.

The Cyclones haven’t won since a Jan. 15 blowout of Baylor, and afterward are losing by an average of 16.6 points per game.

“Struggling teams find a way to lose games,” Hoiberg said. “If you know you can win a close game, it makes the next one a lot easier.”