When asked to name the one area his big men needed to improve the most over the off-season, ISU men’s basketball coach Wayne Morgan’s answer was quick and simple.

“They need to get stronger,” Morgan said.

He then quickly named the weights he would like to see his big men get to: 225 pounds for Shawn Taggart, 240 for Ross Marsden and 230 for Jiri Hubalek.

That’s a 30-pound jump for Marsden and a five-pound leap for the other two. And Morgan wants it in muscle, too.

“I think every one of them has improved and I think every one of them has a much better idea of how hard this is,” Morgan said. “I think those guys will really improve a great deal from the end of this season to next season. Then they can really work on the things they need to work on.”

Morgan’s much-maligned frontcourt is undeniably young, consisting of freshmen Taggart and Marsden, sophomore Hubalek and junior Jessan Gray. All four players are seeing their first Big 12 experience this season.

The learning curve has been steep for the entire group, each of whom were asked to produce from day one.

“Some people may get mad because we have such a good backcourt and the frontcourt should lead up to it. That’s tough,” guard John Neal said.

Perhaps the most pointed example of the ISU big men’s youth and inexperience was against Nebraska on Feb. 15.

Cornhusker center Aleks Maric torched the Cyclones interior defense for 37 points and 16 rebounds, hitting his season average of nine points well before halftime.

The dismantling down low led to strong comments from ISU junior guard Will Blalock, who questioned the desire of some of his teammates.

“Our big guys know that Will [Blalock] didn’t mean anything, like he was calling them out,” Neal said. “Sometimes it gets bad when you’re losing and guys say things they don’t mean.

“I really don’t think our team is pointing fingers. It’s been a frustrating season because we’re not getting wins and when you’re losing everything is going to be magnified.”

Whatever was said – inside or outside the locker room – seems to have worked.

Iowa State’s next game was against an Oklahoma team with two of the top post players in the Big 12.

The Cyclones held Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout to a combined 20 points, keeping the Sooners from getting anything going inside.

“I thought after that they came out and played a really good game against Oklahoma and came back against Oklahoma State and played well,” Neal said.

“Over the last couple games they’ve been playing better. They keep coming to practice and working and doing the things they need to do.

That’s what you like to see as a teammate.”