The ISU men’s basketball team took a beating Wednesday night at No. 10 Texas A&M, falling 73-49 and stretching its losing streak to five games.

Saturday, the Cyclones (11-10 overall, 2-5 Big 12) hit the home hardwood to square off against the Baylor Bears (12-9 overall, 2-6 Big 12).

The Cyclones’ 24-point defeat against the 10th-ranked Aggies was their worst of the season and dropped the Cyclones’ all-time mark in road games against ranked teams to 7-98.

“Texas A&M presents a lot of problems for most teams, and tonight was no different,” said coach Greg McDermott. “They have a lot of weapons and are the type of team that will present problems for opponents come NCAA Tournament time.

“I’m not sure that even our best effort would have been enough against this team. They are just a very good ball team.”

The Cyclones trailed by 16 at the half and, in what has become a disturbing habit, had another rough go in the second half, shooting just 26 percent from the field after halftime.

Thankfully, McDermott said, Saturday’s game against Baylor gives the Cyclones a much needed opportunity to get in front of the home fans, who are still solidly behind the team after two straight road games against top-15 opponents.

“I believe that [the fans] see us still as a young team,” McDermott said. “We have a lot of new guys in the system, and it’s taking them a little time to get used to it. We are now just starting to come together and bond, so I think that’s the reason why the crowd and the fans still stand behind us 100 percent.”

“We play hard 40 minutes, even though we do come out flat in the second half. We play hard the whole entire game.”

Second-half woes have plagued Iowa State for much of the five-game skid, and it is something ISU forward Rahshon Clark said the team knows it has to correct.

“It’s been an up-and-down season,” Clark said. “It hits us hard because we know we’re a better team than we’ve been playing. We come out the first half and play good. Second half, we’re coming out slow. We’re a young team, and some are still getting a feel for the game.”

The home contest against Baylor is seen as a winnable game for Iowa State, but McDermott said the Cyclones have to be prepared to give a full effort against a scrappy Baylor team in its first sanction-free year since the tragedy and scandal that nearly shut down the program.

“[Their staff] is hard working and very knowledgeable,” McDermott said. “They all had great experiences. They’ve been through it before in regards to rebuilding. Their hard work has paid off, and they have been able to obtain some very good players on their team.

“They can coach them up. They’re very sound offensively, and defensively they play with discipline.”

Baylor is led by sophomore Curtis Jerrells, who was voted a Big 12 all-freshman first-teamer by both the coaches and media last season and is averaging over 12 points per game this year.

“They’ve got good players,” McDermott said. “What they did at Texas, almost knocking off the Longhorns at Texas, is in a lot of ways not a surprise because they’ve got good players, they’re well-coached, and they’ve got a plan.”