The first big challenge of Greg McDermott’s tenure at Iowa State is also his most meaningful.

McDermott will lead the Cyclones into his old backyard when they travel to Cedar Falls to take on Northern Iowa.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday.

McDermott coached the Panthers for five years before coming to Iowa State this season. This will be his first game against the school that he once coached, as well as the university where he played college basketball.

“This is the start of a tough stretch for us,” McDermott said. “We have not been tested like we will be Wednesday night.”

After its matchup with Northern Iowa, Iowa State will face Drake and Iowa, and will attempt to claim the mythical state basketball championship among the universities.

The game against Northern Iowa will be just the second road contest of the year for the Cyclones, putting a relatively inexperienced team in a hostile intrastate environment for the first time.

“Our guys are excited to go on the road and play,” McDermott said.

It will also be a game against an opponent who knows McDermott’s coaching style well.

When McDermott left for Iowa State, Northern Iowa hired his assistant Ben Jacobson to be its new coach.

Two of McDermott’s assistants were also in Cedar Falls, meaning both sides have loads of memories with each other.

“We’re close to that coaching staff,” McDermott said. “You don’t create those kinds of memories with people and have them go away when you put on a different jersey or coach for a different team.”

McDermott and Jacobson are still best friends, meaning the trash talking between them has already begun.

“We talk almost every day,” McDermott said. “Or we fire off goofy text messages to each other.

“I think he told me last night that he won’t throw it to [UNI star Eric Coleman] if I don’t run the ball screen for [Mike] Taylor. Up until this point, we’ve watched each other as a fan, because we want each other to do well.”

McDermott downplayed the game’s significance and his desire to beat his former top assistant.

“Neither of us like to lose much,” McDermott said. “It will be emotional until the game starts, then we’ll get after each other, and then when it’s over, we’ll be best of friends again.”

His players, though, can tell what this game means.

“It’s a huge game, an in-state rivalry,” said ISU center Ross Marsden. “There are a lot of emotions that coach has to deal with. It’s another game and we’re going to go out and try to execute our gameplan and get a win.”

Northern Iowa is 4-1 on the season, its only loss coming to then-No. 17 Washington, in a game that went down to the wire.

Iowa State enters with a 6-0 record.

The Cyclones will also have center Jiri Hubalek back. Hubalek was forced to sit out the first six games of the season after the NCAA ruled he violated its bylaws by receiving benefits while in junior college.