Losing three top players from a 14-18 squad that finished eleventh in the Big 12 has outsiders picking Iowa State for another low conference finish.

But what this team loses in experience, coaches and players hope it makes up for in intangibles.

“I would say our team chemistry, this year, is a lot better,” senior point guard Bryan Petersen said. “It wasn’t bad last year, by any means, but this team has meshed really well. It kind of started over the summer and carried over into the fall.”

In coach Greg McDermott’s third year at Iowa State, however, there are a lot of questions to be answered.

Three starters must be replaced, including 48 percent of the team’s scoring. Only one player — Alex Thompson — has more than one year of Division I experience. Eight players haven’t played a game of Division I basketball.

“I’d like to be in a different place than we are right now, in terms of having a group of veterans on our team, but it is what it is,” McDermott said.

Yet McDermott said he feels the Cyclones “have a solid foundation of young guys.” And in order to make this season successful, the team has to be, what McDermott called, “all-in.”

“If we’re going to be successful this year, we’ve got to have everybody, from our coaching staff to our support staff to every individual on our team, willing to invest everything they have into our program,” McDermott said. “You’ve got to try to eliminate as much selfish attitude that can creep up on your group on occasion as much as possible.”

Year three of the McDermott era has been the breakout season in his past head coaching jobs. At Wayne State, he went from 12-15 in his second year to 21-7 in his third year. At Northern Iowa, McDermott went from 11-17 to 21-10 and saw the first of the team’s three NCAA Tournament appearances.

But the Cyclones were picked to finish eleventh in the conference again by Big 12 coaches. He understands the ranking, but doesn’t necessarily buy it.

“I think everybody in our locker room will be disappointed if that’s where we finish,” he said.

He’s gotten players to use the low expectations as motivation.

“That’s always a driving force for us,” senior Sean Haluska said. “That’s never a good thing — to be picked second-to-last in your conference, but we take that as a motivating factor every day in practice.”

To avoid that, Iowa State must find scoring and leadership. The team has cited the three seniors — Petersen, Haluska and Thompson — as leaders, as well as the two experienced sophomores, Craig Brackins and Diante Garrett.

The scoring, however, must be picked up by everyone, Petersen said.

“I don’t think we really have anybody in place that can take over that, any one guy. I think it’s going to be all of us, a collective group,” Petersen said. “I think it’s going to have to be a team thing this year.”

McDermott said he has seen the team embrace the “all-in” attitude, and thinks it is the team’s “chance to be successful, as a young group.” After Wesley Johnson left the team in May, McDermott seemingly got a show of support as most of the team showed up to the press conference following Johnson’s departure.

“I know it didn’t tear us apart. It probably brought us closer together … I think, this summer, maybe we learned a few things,” Petersen said.

How well that chemistry carries over to the court will go a long way toward deciding the fate of the Cyclones’ young team.

Injuries updates:

Lucca Staiger is expected to play this weekend and has practice with the team the last two days, McDermott said. Staiger is recovering from a minor knee surgery.

“He’s healthy enough to play, but obviously he lost a lot of conditioning and timing, having to sit out a week of very important practice,” McDermott said. “That’s our issue with Lucca, he hasn’t practiced for a month, so his conditioning is certainly a factor.”

Freshman Wes Eikmeier should also see the court this weekend, after battling an ankle injury. McDermott said Eikmeier was in better shape on Wednesday and Thursday than he was on Monday and Tuesday.

Also, Alex Thompson has practiced with a bad ankle all week but was still able to get through practice and should play this weekend.

Game times:

The Cyclones will play a triple-header this weekend, as part of the World Vision Classic. Iowa State will open with UC-Davis on at 7 p.m. Friday, play Loyola-Marymount at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and close out the weekend with UW-Milwaukee at 7 p.m. Sunday.