Returning to Ames after spending the weekend in the shadow of the Chicago skyline, the Cyclone men’s basketball team is ready for a quick turnaround from its loss to Northwestern on Saturday and the rivalry game against Northern Iowa on Wednesday.

At Monday’s press conference, coach Greg McDermott and junior forward Craig Brackins addressed the concerns from the weekend without offering excuses.

“We were exposed to a lot of things this weekend, some of which I certainly expected,” McDermott said. “We played seven games in 15 days. What it does physically is one thing, but we’ve thrown seven different game plans at these guys in 15 days, some of them overnight. That’s a lot to handle mentally as well.”

The Cyclones went 6–1 in those seven contests, but five wins were by 20 points or more, suggesting the wins weren’t over teams in their class. Now that the Cyclones have seen tough competition in a win against Saint Louis and against Northwestern, they must build upon what they have seen because the season won’t be any easier.

“The Northwestern game was tough for our guys, it’s not the type of team you want to play with no preparation,” McDermott said. “But we did the best we could with the time and gym space available on Saturday. We put ourselves in position to win a game and offensively, we missed some shots I would take most times in that situation.”

The leader of the team, both vocally and statistically, has been Brackins for the last two seasons, but even the 6-foot-10-inch All-Big 12 First Teamer struggled early on, shooting a combined 12-for-34 at the UIC-Pavilion.

“Craig missed a wide-open, two-handed alley-oop dunk,” McDermott said. “That just doesn’t happen, so that was a sign that maybe things weren’t supposed to work out for us when that one didn’t go down.”

The alley-oop wasn’t the only thing not to fall, but with pressure from fans and NBA hype pushing as hard as a low post double team, Brackins is just trying to pass each challenge as it comes.

“A lot of teams are throwing a lot of different things at me, and trying to adjust is a little difficult, but it’s something I knew was going to happen this year,” Brackins said. “I just need to be patient.”

Coming away with a win and a close loss in Chicago as the team shot a low 39 percent from field in both games, the Cyclones showed toughness and grit, something they’ll have to prove against Northern Iowa and No. 25 California on the road Saturday night.

“The game’s over, you let it go,” Brackins said. “It hurts, you never want to lose, I hate the feeling of losing, but in the locker room I told all the guys we’ve felt like this before, especially the older guys. We couldn’t hang our heads low and let the young guys see us like that, so I went in there and talked to a lot of them and said we’re gonna bounce back.”

McDermott hasn’t lost any faith in Brackins, as the offense will continue to work through the big man, where he’s free to pass out of double teams or attack the basket one-on-one.

“He’s been aggressive … even his fadeaway,” McDermott said. “We’re certainly not going to discourage him from shooting that, because he’s proven over the test of time that he can effectively make that shot.”

Brackins also made a mention of the man who gets him the ball in the post, fellow junior returnee Diante Garrett. The 6-foot-4-inch point guard is averaging seven assists per contest, more than the 6.7 points per game he’s providing, but McDermott said before the season started that if that was the case, the Cyclones would be looking at a successful campaign.

“[Garrett’s] doing an unbelievable job — he’s our leader on the team,” Brackins said. “He initiates everything and the way he’s approached this year is, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to distribute the ball to my teammates’, and I think he’s been doing a great job of that.”

Forward LaRon Dendy’s status was listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s game, after reinjuring his knee against Saint Louis. Dendy played for eight minutes before sitting out the rest of that contest and didn’t dress for the Northwestern game Saturday, but McDermott won’t completely count out the junior transfer from Indian Hills and said that he didn’t believe it was as bad of a strain as it had been three weeks ago.