The ISU men’s basketball team will host Big 12 rival Colorado at 8 p.m. Saturday, attempting to break out of its second three-game losing streak of the season.

The Cyclones’ last three defeats have come at the hands of conference opponents, putting a critical blow on their postseason hopes, and the team in black from Boulder is coming off of a home win against Nebraska. Iowa State closed a large second-half deficit against Oklahoma on Wednesday, and scored a conference season high 84 points, but still found defeat. Colorado’s conference wins have come from the Cornhuskers and Baylor in their Big 12 opener, but the wins have doubled their total from last season.

“We’ve got to find a way to put some points on the board,” coach Greg McDermott said. “With some of the lineup issues we have right now, it’s hard to score points at times, and we just gotta keep moving Craig [Brackins] around and attempt to make them pay when they double-team him.”

Since the loss of Lucca Staiger last week, the Cyclones have struggled with offensive consistency, and 6-foot-3 guard Scott Christopherson has had to step into the German’s shoes from 3-point range and keep an elevated level on defense.

“We’re asking a lot of Scott; he’s got to guard Sherron Collins and we expect him to score,” McDermott said of the redshirt sophomore.

“It would be nice if there was enough offense around him that we wouldn’t have to rely on him so heavily, but he has to be that guy that’s going to create some things off the dribble and hit 3-point shots to loosen up that defense inside.”

Christopherson tossed in 14 points in the Oklahoma game, including a 4-of-5 effort from 3-point range. The former Marquette transfer didn’t have to guard All-Big 12 player Willie Warren on Wednesday, but guards Tommy Mason-Griffin and Cade Davis exploded for 38 and 24 points.

“I think [Christopherson] has already been successful,” McDermott said. “He’s been one of our most consistent defensive players throughout the season, and he’s shooting 50 percent from three. I’d like him to hunt down a few more of those.”

The Buffaloes are led offensively by Cory Higgins and Alec Burks, guards who are chalking up 35 points combined per night. Higgins was the leading scorer from last year’s team, and the 6-foot-5 junior is adding just fewer than three assists per game to his totals. Burks is a true freshman from Grandview, Mo., and is the team’s leading scorer so far in conference play.

The Buffaloes’ coach Jeff Bzdelik typically brings nine players in for his team, but 13 have seen time in conference play, a luxury the Cyclones can’t afford in their sixth game of the Big 12 schedule.

“We have eight guys, and three of them are at the same position, so we don’t really have eight guys,” McDermott said.

The Cyclones haven’t won in Ames since Jan. 9, but Colorado hasn’t won at Hilton Coliseum since 2005.