Iowa State got off to a hot start in Big 12 play, winning its first two games, but now the Cyclones find themselves mired in a three-game losing streak as they travel to No. 13 Oklahoma State (17-3, 3-2 Big 12).

With consecutive losses in games against Kansas, at Colorado and against Kansas State, the Cyclones have fallen to 11-8 and 2-3 in the Big 12.

“These losses have kind of started to snowball,” ISU guard Mike Taylor said. “They just keep rolling over and over. I have to put some of that on me being a leader, but we just need to pull together.”

The Cyclones were especially frustrated by Kansas State’s defense last Saturday, which held Iowa State to just 16 points in the first half.

The physical defense employed by the Wildcats kept Taylor off of the scoring sheet for the first 31:28 of the game.

While Taylor ended the game with 21 points, his late scoring outburst was too late to win the game.

Unfortunately for Iowa State, teams have started to label Taylor as the man they have to stop to beat the Cyclones and are putting lots of pressure on its best offensive threat.

“He’s a marked man to start with because we rely on him to do so much offensively,” ISU coach Greg McDermott said. “Now he’s being pressured by their best defender and we expect him to run our offense and get into our offense.”

The Cyclones now hit the road to face a top 15 team in Stillwater, Okla., against the Cowboys. Iowa State is 1-1 so far on the road in the Big 12 Conference, but struggled against Colorado in its last road game.

“Our home floor and our crowd helps us,” McDermott said. “They don’t give up on us and as a result of that our guys don’t give up on each other and we play with a little more confidence.”

Confidence, McDermott said, is something that Iowa State is struggling with right now and needs to work on as the season progresses.

“Confidence is a fragile thing,” McDermott said. “The great players . their expression doesn’t change if they make a shot or miss a shot. We have to get to that point.

“We’re young and inexperienced and we really rely on emotion on our team right now. We have to try and move away from that and understand the importance of execution.”

One man the Cyclones will try to rely on more if teams are successful in slowing down Taylor will be freshman standout Wesley Johnson.

The ISU forward had a streak of four straight double-doubles – tying an ISU freshman record – until going for just nine points and seven rebounds against Kansas State, but Johnson is still averaging over 12 points and nine rebounds a game for the season.

In conference play however, Johnson is averaging a double-double at 12.4 points and 11 rebounds per game.

“I’ve been really focused since the Big 12 came around,” Johnson said. “I just wanted to help the team win and make an impact, especially once the conference season came around.”

Johnson also said that the messages from his coach about keeping confidence are having an effect on the team.

“We know we can’t let the games get us down,” Johnson said. “We have to just focus on the next game and leave the last one in the past. We just have to learn from our mistakes in the last game and that’s what we’re trying to do now.”