Iowa State is heading to Manhattan, Kan., to take on the Kansas State Wildcats on Tuesday night, looking to end its conference road woes and a four-game losing streak overall against one of the hottest teams in the Big 12.

“You could argue that they had as good a week as anybody in the conference,” coach Greg McDermott said, after Wildcat victories over Missouri and Texas.

The Cyclones will have their hands full with Wildcat guards Denis Clemente, Jacob Pullen and Fred Brown, especially after Clemente scored a career-high 44 points against Texas on Sunday. Pullen has been averaging 13 points a game for Kansas State, and Brown’s long-distance abilities have him third in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage at 44.3 percent.

“[Clemente] may be the fastest guy with the basketball in his hands in the country,” McDermott said. “He is lightning quick.”

Iowa State is carrying its own momentum into the game, after a close game against No. 2 Oklahoma last Saturday, and gaining confidence through a defeat after double-double efforts from forward Craig Brackins and guard Diante Garrett.

“It’s about keeping my confidence, keeping my head up and doing whatever it takes to help my team out to win,” Garrett said.

Garrett’s performance was a byproduct of the attention Brackins has been getting in the post, as his reputation from three Big 12 Player of the Week awards have opened things up.

The eight team 3-pointers and Garrett’s 10 assists has the team hoping for a run of confidence, but the Cyclone supporting cast will need to step up against Kansas State.

“Craig keeps having good games, teams are going to start doubling, so we have to do our job and knock down open shots,” guard Sean Haluska said.

Kansas State will be seeking an eighth consecutive home win over Iowa State, and its fourth win in row in the Big 12 after starting conference play with four losses. The team is tops in the conference in offensive rebounding, but much of the focus on the Wildcats will keep circling around Clemente and his scoring ability.

“We gotta contain him, and can’t let him get off and get open shots,” Garrett said.

McDermott has mentioned in prior weeks about the strength of the defense, citing Alex Thompson, Bryan Petersen and Haluska as the squad’s premier defenders on a team only allowing 63 points per contest. As a 6-foot-3-inch guard, Haluska looks to be instrumental to success.

“We’ve been going over their personnel and they’ve got really quick guards, and you’ve just gotta tell yourself you’re not gonna get beat, and just stay in front,” Haluska said.

Confidence and motivation are up for the entire team after the group effort against Oklahoma, but now they’re looking for results against conference competition. Kansas and Kansas State are the only teams in the Big 12 North McDermott has yet to beat, and Iowa State is a rough 20-75 all time in Manhattan.

“They’ve got a talented young group of players, and when their guards have played well, they’ve been in a position to win a lot of games,” McDermott said. “But when they haven’t played as well, that’s when they’ve gotten nicked. It’ll be our challenge to try and slow those guys down the best we can.”s