After the Cyclones’ 74-65 loss to Colorado on Wednesday night, ISU men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott said his team got what it deserved.

“We played like we practiced yesterday,” McDermott said. “We just didn’t prepare well for [Wednesday’s] game for whatever reason and it showed. We had some turnovers early that weren’t forced and we’re just not good enough to make those mistakes and win.”

The Cyclones (11-7, 2-2 Big 12) committed 20 turnovers and were just 6-of-27 from three-point range against the Buffaloes. Iowa State will need to improve in those two areas to defeat the Kansas State Wildcats (12-6, 2-2 Big 12) on Saturday even inside Hilton Coliseum.

Cyclone standout freshman Wesley Johnson, who notched team highs against Colorado with 15 points and 14 rebounds, has been on fire recently with four straight double-doubles.

The four consecutive double-doubles tie an ISU freshman record and Johnson has 10 on the year.

“Wesley has been so consistent for us all year long on the glass,” McDermott said.

“He does a good job of getting to the loose ball and we need more guys to step in and do that for us.”

Johnson is averaging 12 points per game and more than nine rebounds while starting all 18 games for the Cyclones.

Kansas State comes into Ames led by new head coach Bob Huggins. The Wildcats had high expectations for a transition year because of a big-name coach and a big-time recruiting class.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, hopes for the season took a big hit when star freshman forward Billy Walker was lost for the season after sustaining an ACL injury.

Walker had averaged 11.3 points per game to go with 4.5 rebounds.

The Wildcats still have talent with Cartier Martin and David Hoskins both averaging 14 points a game, and those two figure to be at the center of the Cyclone defensive attack.