When the ISU men’s basketball team takes the floor Tuesday against the Missouri Tigers, the Cyclone faithful will say good-bye to two of their players as a frustrating season winds down.

Anthony Davis and John Neal will take the floor for, the last time at Hilton Coliseum looking for just their second win in seven games. They will also try to avoid their first losing home record in conference play ever in the Big 12 and first since the 1993-94 season.

“We haven’t done what we’ve set out to do [this year],” Neal said. “We still have some time left and we have to make whatever we can out of it.”

The Cyclones have been in a tailspin as of late and have put themselves in position to miss the NCAA Tournament if they do not run the table at the Big 12 tournament in Dallas next week.

“We have a lot of frustration because we had goals set at the beginning of the year and we didn’t meet them,” Neal said. “We’ve got to take the next two games and the Big 12 tournament and try and salvage anything we can from this season.”

Guard Curtis Stinson said he knows the team hasn’t lived up to the expectations that it set for itself or that fans had, but the team needs to roll with the punches.

“We have to try and win both games this week, that’s all. Just stay focused and win games,” Stinson said.

“Everybody on the team had different expectations but it just didn’t work out that way. That’s just something you have to deal with.

“We’re not going to give up though. The last thing we’re going to do is give up.”

Even coach Wayne Morgan said he has felt the disappointment of unmet expectations.

“I would’ve liked to had a better year,” Morgan said.

“There’s some games that slipped away from us that I’d like to get back, but I can’t get them back. The only thing I can do is show those films to our players so that we can get better as a team and keep those things from happening.”

As frustrated as the team may be, Neal said he won’t let those emotions get in the way and ruin the end of his career as a Cyclone – a career, he said, that he never quite envisioned.

“I came in here thinking I could maybe play my junior or senior year, but I never really knew [if I would],” Neal said. “I just came in wanting to work hard everyday in practice and be a part of Iowa State and their basketball tradition.”

Neal, a former walk-on from Winterset, gained most of his fame and popularity when the then-unknown sophomore walked onto the floor in 2003 and drilled key 3-pointers to lead Iowa State to an 84-76 victory over rival University of Iowa.

“I feel like I’ve had some good games but obviously [the Iowa game] is the game that’s going to be remembered,” Neal said.

“It’s OK to be remembered as a guy like that, but hopefully I’ll be remembered as a guy who played hard and tried his best every time out.”

Morgan said that the emotions of fans and players will run high on Senior Night, but maybe nobody will be more emotional than the coach himself.

“Every Senior Night is difficult for me because every Senior Night we lose someone who has been a part of our family and that’s sad for me,” Morgan said.

“John Neal has meant a lot to our program and our fans all around the state, especially with those two shots [against Iowa]. Anthony Davis has come here and played hard and we’re going to miss both of them.”

One player the Cyclones won’t be saying good-bye to, however, will be Curtis Stinson, who tried to squash rumors of an early exit to the NBA on Monday.

“I’ve always said I’m going to play here and I’m going to stay for four years,” Stinson said.

“I’ll be back. I will be back next year playing basketball at Iowa State.”

The Cyclones tip-off Senior Night at 7 p.m. Tuesday.