While Iowa State seniors Sean Haluska, Bryan Petersen, and Alex Thompson will be celebrating their last game at ground zero of Hilton Magic, the Cyclones have to take care of locking down the No. 10 seed for the Big 12 Tournament.

Iowa State’s loss at Nebraska and Texas Tech’s upset victory against No. 9 Kansas put the two teams into a tie for 10th place in the conference, with the winner emerging as the 10-seed in the bracket, and the loser dropping to 3-13 in the Big 12, good for eleventh place in Oklahoma City’s five day tournament.

“Like us, [Texas Tech has] been very competitive in a lot of games they’ve played, but haven’t found a way to play 40 minutes, to win enough of them as either of us would like,” Iowa State coach Greg McDermott said.

The Red Raiders’ upset of Big 12 leaders Kansas came on their senior night, with senior guard Alan Voskuil going off for 35 points, including 9-for-14 from beyond the arc. That game made Saturday’s game even more important, with the slimmest of post-season hopes for both teams relying on the Big 12 tournament, and putting together a good run. Iowa State has proven to be a different team when they’re on home court, winning two of their last three home games, while dropping all eight of this season’s conference road games.

“Obviously it all came together for them on senior night, Voskuil had a terrific game. They’re a very dangerous offensive team, so our defense is going to have to be a lot better than it’s been the last couple games,” McDermott said.

Texas Tech has been shooting almost 38 percent from three-point range this season — and against Kansas, the team shot better from three-point range than their overall field goal percentage. Their scoring outpaces Iowa State by almost 14 points per contest, but their defense also gives up just under 79 points a game, a penchant the team’s coach Pat Knight certainly didn’t pick up from his father, legendary coach Bob Knight.

Iowa State’s defense has seen a drop off in recent games, after giving up 77 points to a Nebraska squad that was the second-lowest scoring club in the conference, but it will need a quick reenlistment to keep Texas Tech from lighting up the scoreboard, coming off their biggest win of the season. Iowa State’s fortunes haven’t been good with scheduling this year, playing the Big 12’s toughest teams as they come off of their largest wins of the year, but McDermott doesn’t view it as a roadblock.

“It’s luck of the draw. Often times in this game it’s not who you play, but when you play them, and we know that Texas Tech is going to come in here with as much confidence as they’ve had all season long, and we have to be ready for that,” McDermott said.

Iowa State seniors have made positive leadership and role contribution this season, and although the team might not go off from three-point range like Texas Tech did for their respective senior day, they’re looking for a victory to cap their careers.

“It’s an important game for us, because we want to feel that way going to Oklahoma City next week, so it’ll be a heck of a basketball game,” McDermott said.

Regardless of outcome, Iowa State will take the court on Wednesday, March 11 in Oklahoma City for the Big 12 conference tournament, and event that is a last chance at earning a spot in the NCAA tournament. Iowa State would need an unprecedented run to win it all and get to the NCAA tournament, with Texas A&M, Kansas State, or Texas being the likely first round opponents.