During his four-year career, senior forward Rahshon Clark has grabbed 650 rebounds, tallied 141 steals and blocked 104 shots. In his 3,300 minutes on the floor, he has made big jumpers, played tough defense and thrown down highlight-reel dunks.

He has even made a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament, seen a head coaching change, and become the first player in Big 12 history to record 1,000 points, 100 steals, 100 3-pointers and 100 blocks.

But on Saturday against Colorado, Clark did something he hadn’t done as a part of the Iowa State basketball program – he sat out a regular season game.

“It sucked, you know,” said Clark, who had played in every one of the previous 120 Cyclone games during his career games before sitting out with a sore knee.

“But me being on the bench is not stopping us from playing or me from doing anything else that I can to contribute to the team. I can still root my teammates on and I still try to bring energy as much as I can. Not playing sucked, but I was still able to do other things.”

Assistant coach Jeff Rutter said watching Clark interact with teammates during time-outs and throughout the game was a testament to the senior’s leadership ability.

“He wanted to, in some way, shape, or form, play a part in that game, and I think that he did,” Rutter said. “It’s really important on the bench and interacting with his teammates during a time-out and, at halftime for Rahshon, the elder statesman, to make sure that those guys keep their heads up and keep plugging.”

Freshman guard Diante Garrett said Clark’s absence was noticeable, as the Cyclones were unable to defend well against Colorado guards Marcus Hall and Richard Roby, who scored a combined total of 48 points.

“It was a lot different, because he [defends] the best people that we play against on the other team and he holds them,” Garrett said. “We need his leadership out there and, on the defensive end, his emotion. If he would have played, it would have been a better result.”

As the Cyclones (14-15, 4-10 Big 12) gear up for their final conference road game at Missouri (15-14, 5-9) on Wednesday they hope to have Clark on the floor as they search for their first Big 12 road win.

Clark was limited in practice on Monday and is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s contest.

“It’s sore,” Clark said of his knee. “I’m not going to say I’m going to play and I’m not going to say I’m not. I don’t know how it’s going to feel – it’s just a day-to-day thing.”

Despite his ailment, one gets the feeling that it’s going to take more than a sore knee to keep Clark out of his final conference road game and the closing weeks of his senior season.

“It hit me, yeah,” Clark said of the fast-approaching final regular season game of his career on Saturday. “It’s been hitting me that this is my last season being able to play on a team. I’m going to do the best I can to further my career here and win as many games in the Big 12 Tournament so we can keep on playing.”

“Winning on the road in our final away game would be great momentum, and then to come back home and try to pull off a win [on Saturday against Kansas State], that would be great momentum going into the Big 12 tournament.”