The Cyclone men’s basketball team will be looking to end its six game conference skid against Colorado on Wednesday, a game pitting the Big 12’s bottom two squads against each other to avoid the cellar.

Colorado’s only conference win this season was a 55-49 home victory over Iowa State just 15 days ago. However, coming off a tough loss to Missouri, the Cyclones hope motivation and pride increase their current 16-1 home record against the Buffs.

Colorado and Iowa State are both low-scoring possession squads that have struggled with youth against bigger competition this year, and will be looking for victory against more even competition on Wednesday.

“We’re similar in that sense that we’ve both been close, and really haven’t been able to get over the hump,” Iowa State coach Greg McDermott said. “I think that’s probably partially a result of our youth and partially a result of not finding a way to be successful.”

Colorado guards Cory Higgins and Dwight Thorne remain the targets for a tough ISU defense, both bolstering their scoring numbers since the win two weeks ago. Higgins is putting in almost 18 points per contest, but fellow guard Thorne’s increased average of 13 is assisted by the help from three point range from other players like Nate Tomlinson and Casey Crawford.

Seeing increased minutes for the Cyclones and a career-high 11 points in his last contest, sophomore guard Charles Boozer is getting attention from fans and teammates alike, hoping that the guard can become an important cog to the team’s success.

“It definitely feels good just being ready to play and just being focused and locked in, and knowing what I can do and doing that to the best of my abilities,” Boozer said.

Comparatively, senior forward Alex Thompson has seen a decrease in minutes since earlier in the schedule, but his experience and length could be a factor against an undersized Colorado zone defense.

“Hopefully we can get on the backboards and get some rebounds, they tend to play their big men away from the hoop, so we need to be able to move our feet,” Thompson said.

Thompson played more minutes in the last Colorado game than any other game in the conference schedule this season, and will be trying to bolster his recent drooping stats.

Switching from a zone defense to man-to-man in their first match-up, the Cyclones are going to try to capitalize on a potential man-to-man look that will place their scorers in position to win it.

It isn’t lost on McDermott and the rest of the squad who will need to carry the team to victory, though.

“Anybody that’s gonna single cover Craig [Brackins], we have to try and get the ball in his hands,” McDermott said.