Although the Cyclones are coming off one of the toughest stretches they have ever played, facing three top 10 teams in just over two weeks, they will not be able to rest just yet.

Iowa State (12-7, 1-3) will head to Norman, Okla. on Wednesday to take on the Oklahoma (11-8, 2-3) in the Lloyd Noble Center at 8 p.m.

With the loss of top NBA draft choice Blake Griffin, the Sooners may not look as imposing on the front court, but they are making up for it this year with their guard play.

Oklahoma has one of the best guards in the conference – Willie Warren.

“There is a reason he was on a lot of people’s All-American teams in the preseason,” said coach Greg McDermott. “He’s just very talented, can score in a lot of ways. I felt he was the difference in our game last year with his ability to shoot the three-point shot. He has not shot the three-point shot well in conference play and we are hoping he doesn’t come out of that on Wednesday.”

Last year, Warren torched the Cyclones with five three pointers en route to a game high 29 points. This year, Warren is tied for fifth in the Big 12 in scoring with 17.6 points per game.

Although he has struggled a bit from beyond the arc recently, his backcourt mate, Tommy Mason-Griffin has had no such problems. 

Mason-Griffin is leading the team with two three-pointers per game and is shooting at a 44 percent clip, good for third in the Big 12. He is also fourth in the Big 12 in assists with 4.58 per game.

“Tommy Mason-Griffin, I think he’s one of the best young point guards in the country,” McDermott said. “He can score it, he can distribute, he shoots the three, he’s got a good pull-up game. Really single-handedly kept them in the game against Texas Tech when they were short-handed.”

Defensively, the Cyclones will be focusing on that tandem. On offense, Iowa State will look to get out of a recent swoon, seemingly brought on by loss.

“Then we’ve got to find a way to put some points on the board,” McDermott said. “Obviously, with some of the line-up issues that we have right now, it’s hard to score points at times. We’ve just got to keep moving Craig around and then make them pay when they go after him with double and triple teams.”

The Cyclones will again be shorthanded, with an eight man roster as they are expected to be for the rest of the season. Oklahoma has no such problem. Although Warren has been injured the past two games, he is expected to be back on Wednesday, giving the Sooners nine players that have played at least 90 minutes so far this season.

“We have eight guys, and three of them are at the same position, three of them are point guards, so really we don’t have eight guys,” McDermott said. “We are trying to get Dominique Buckley more prepared to play off the ball, and that is not something he has practiced any time over the last year and a half because we have had enough depth that we would never half to even think of him doing that, but he is going to have to play primarily there for the rest of the season.”