On paper, Iowa State (13–11, 2–7) traveling to No. 1 Kansas (23–1, 9–0) on Saturday afternoon for a Big 12 basketball game is already inspiring a game-clinching “Rock Chalk Jayhawk” chorus.

The Cyclones are tied for 10th in conference, and the Jayhawks remain unblemished in the Big 12, winning each conference contest by 13 points per game. Kansas has beaten Iowa State nine straight times, and ISU coach Greg McDermott is winless against ranked opponents.

“We just have to play hard and try and win games. That’s our expectation the whole year,” said junior forward Craig Brackins. “We know we’re closer. It just sucks that it’s so late now … but we’re still together and still playing hard.”

Iowa State hung with the rising Missouri Tigers for 37 minutes Wednesday night, a pleasant surprise for a team without power forward LaRon Dendy in the lineup, and something they are trying to build on as they take steps to find a signature win this season. The problem with competing for 37 out of 40 minutes for the Cyclones is the gaps in time that they lose focus or lose control of the game against a press defense or with turnovers.

Sitting dead last in the Big 12 in turnover margin, the Cyclones know what they need to fix. It remains a matter of doing it.

“I just think we need to stay poised and stay together,” Brackins said. “We know we’ve had a bad few minutes, we know what we gotta do, we figured ourselves out; it’s just about putting it together.

If Iowa State can somehow emerge from historic Phog Allen Fieldhouse with a victory Saturday, it’ll also need to contain the varied slate of scorers Kansas has presented to the conference in recent weeks. All-Big 12 players Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins have always been concerns for opponents of the Jayhawks, but power forward Marcus Morris is leading the team in scoring since the start of the conference season — at a pace of 17.8 points per game — quickly followed by Collins, with 15.6 points of his own.

An up-tempo game would definitely favor Kansas in this one — as did the close Missouri game Iowa State played Wednesday — as the Jayhawks lead the conference to the tune of 83.6 points per game, although McDermott’s favored half-court speed is doable. Kansas has been held under 80 points by Colorado and Nebraska within the last week and a half, but both teams were defeated.

“We’ve just got to do the work in practice, working on the pressure offense and getting up and down the court with them,” guard Diante Garrett said.

Cyclone forward Marquis Gilstrap has been a breath of fresh air since Big 12 play started, ranking a surprising second in conference in rebounding, with 10.6 boards per outing, behind only Texas’ Damion James. Brackins has picked up his play as well, putting up an average of 21.8 points and 11.5 boards in his last four games.

Against the Jayhawks, though, Brackins’ 42 and 14 didn’t get it done in 2009, and he’ll need better than the one rebound and 5-for-13 effort shooting he had in the teams’ first meeting this year at Hilton Coliseum. The Jayhawks are the No. 1 team in the land for a reason, and are 15–0 at Allen Fieldhouse this season.

“We’ve played against all the top teams so far. We were right there with a lot of them. You never know what can happen. It is NCAA basketball,” Brackins said with a grin.

The last and only time Iowa State has beaten a No. 1 team in the school’s history was over Kansas on Jan. 14, 1957. The Cyclones defeated the Jayhawks 39–37 in Ames, with the assistance of All-American guard Gary Thompson.

Iowa State is 7–104 all-time against ranked opponents on the road.