After almost six days away, hotel rooms, two conference losses, bus rides and cheap takeout food, the Cyclones were ready to come back to Ames.

Coach Fred Hoiberg’s club left Ames on Tuesday, dropped a tough overtime game at Oklahoma State on Wednesday and weather prevented their return home.

Storms led to the Cyclones (14-6, 1-4 Big 12) heading straight to Columbia, Mo., to take on the No. 11 Tigers and get their first dominating defeat of the season, 87-54.

“Everybody needs to step it up, adversity hit us and we gave one away, and we got our butts kicked against Missouri,” Hoiberg said. “With three of our next four at home, we’ve got to come out and take care of business.”

Stamina is an issue for players in any basketball team, but for a young team that goes only seven players deep on many nights it can become a catalyst.

Being on the road so long, some players even had to go to the malls for entertainment and to get more clothes just to make it through the trip.

After losing to Missouri in an up-and-down game, the team came back to Ames that night and didn’t return to their homes until around 4 a.m. Sunday.

The Cyclones might just be plain tuckered out.

“It was one of those road trips I had never been apart of, I’ve never done that in my college career,” said senior guard Diante Garrett.

Three of the seven Cyclones that see a lot of action are freshmen and getting their first taste of the Big 12 grind, and the extended road trip certainly didn’t help.

“The week just kind of dragged on and you could tell we weren’t just all there together, just because of all the things that had happened,” said freshman forward Melvin Ejim. “We got in and I just jumped in bed and got a nice sleep. Besides the fact that we lost, we definitely got some more unity as a team.”

The leaders around the team, namely Hoiberg and Garrett, feel like the team may be more mentally exhausted than physically fatigued.

“When I got back I stayed in the bed for about an extra two hours than I normally do, and I still need to catch up — I haven’t slept in a good bed in awhile,” Garrett said Monday. “We had the day off yesterday, and I think everybody got their legs up under them and sat back and relaxed.”

The coach had a familiar feeling come over him on the road.

“It felt a lot like an NBA trip, it felt like one of those six-game trips where you’re on the road the whole time and [Missouri] was the getaway game,” Hoiberg said. “That’s always a tough game and it showed. Our guys just didn’t play the right way, and it looked like guys were anxious to get out of there.”

Now back at home, Iowa State will take on two squads joining the Cyclones at the bottom of the Big 12 standings, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

The Red Raiders got their first conference win Saturday on a last-second shot against Nebraska, and the Cyclones are hoping the comfortable time spent at home brings better results than the last week.

“I think we’ll be fine, every team has one of those losses and it’s a teaching experience,” Ejim said. “We’re a young team so it can only help us.”

Iowa State’s tipoff with Texas Tech is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday.