The chances of Iowa State getting the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament look promising.

Standing in its way will be the Kansas Jayhawks. Iowa State enters Thursday’s game with a chance to do something it has not done since the 2006-’07 season: sweep the season series against the Jayhawks and leave Lawrence with a victory.

“I think every time we’ve played Kansas — whether it’s been home or away — the games have been eerily similar,” said coach Bill Fennelly. “[The games have been] low scoring, defensive minded and neither team has the ability to dominate the game.”

“[Lawrence] is not a place where we’ve had a ton of success and certainly a lot of people could probably say that but I think of the style of play makes it seem like it’s going to be the same game whether we play them home, away or neutral court. I think it’s going to be the same game.”

Because Iowa State could potentially move into second place with the win, the Cyclones will certainly have some added motivation to end the road-losing streak against Kansas.

“[During previous games] it seems like we weren’t prepared,” said senior guard Denae Stuckey. “This year has to be the stop to that. We’ve struggled so bad in the past couple years and I think this year it’s time to go down there and get a good game and play well against Kansas in their own house.”

McCray Injury

The last time the Cyclones played Kansas, Iowa State’s defense shut down senior guard Danielle McCray. With a 3-for-13 shooting performance and only six points scored, McCray had one of the worst games of her career.

For the second straight game, McCray will not be a factor. Instead of it being because of the Cyclones’ defensive effort, however, it will be because the senior tore her ACL during a practice and will sit on the sidelines for the rest of the season.

Despite the injury, the Cyclones will not overlook the struggling Jayhawks.

“I haven’t seen them [without McCray],” Stuckey said. “But from what I’ve heard, the games they play without McCray, they seem like they still play pretty well. This isn’t a team that we can just roll over because McCray’s not playing. We’re going to have to still go out there and be up to the challenge and play because they’ve played some teams and they’ve hung in there and done really well even though McCray’s not playing.”

Stuckey Family

Iowa State will approach Thursday’s game as any other, but for one Cyclone, there is one special connection to the program.

Stuckey not only is a Kansas native but her brother, Darrell Stuckey, is the starting safety on the Jayhawk football team.

Despite her Kansas roots, Stuckey made it clear she was not a Jayhawk fan growing up.

“I really was never a big Kansas fan,” Stuckey said. “I had nothing against them or anything, I just didn’t grow up a die-hard fan. My brother was a big KU die-hard fan. He wanted to go there from the time he was little. And I think it had something to do with my mom. He was pretty much a mama’s boy and wanted to stay close to home.”

Members of Stuckey’s family will be in attendance during Thursday’s game. However, her brother will be training for football in Florida.

This game will not mark the last time Stuckey gets to play in Kansas. The Big 12 Tournament will be played in Kansas City where the Cyclones hope to enter with a No. 2 seed — their highest since finishing the 1999-’00 season as No. 1.