Although the ISU men’s basketball team is still smarting from its 78-58 defeat at the hands of No. 8 Texas, attention has turned to a road date with Texas Tech on Saturday.

The Cyclones (11-4, 1-1 Big 12) were manhandled in the second half against the Longhorns, grabbing just eight rebounds in the final half, and shot just six free throws in the entire contest.

“We’ve got that bad taste in our mouth from that 20-point blowout, but we had a good practice yesterday and we’ll have another one today and get back on our winning ways,” said junior guard Will Blalock.

Eleven Longhorn 3-pointers doomed the Cyclones in Monday’s contest, but Blalock said it focused the team’s attention on an area that needs improving.

“In transition they got a lot of threes from us not getting back so we worked on that a lot,” Blalock said.

“Texas Tech is a team that’s pretty solid year in and year out and teams are always really good at home so it should be a good game.”

It was the Cyclones third home loss of the season and first loss of the conference season.

ISU coach Wayne Morgan said he hopes the team can get past the defeat mentally and avoid an early conference-season slide.

“There’s a lot of times where a team can lose and lose badly and then go on a slide, so that’s a definite concern,” Morgan said.

“Texas beat us badly, and we can talk about it, but it’s got to be in the players’ heads that it’s over and we’re going forward. I can talk to them and tell them that, but they have to believe it.

“Once the game starts, I can’t grab any rebounds or shoot any free throws.”

Conference road wins are always hard to come by and especially have been for Iowa State in recent years, until last season when the Cyclones broke through for four road wins in the Big 12.

They were the first road wins for the Cyclones since the 2000-01 season.

“Texas Tech is a great team,” Morgan said.

“They’re coached by Bobby Knight, one of the best coaches in the country. They’ve got some great players, but they’ve got some that still need to prove themselves, and I believe if we play well, we can win.

“I feel the same every time I go to play [road or home]. I try to win; I expect to win and I play as hard as I can. Hopefully [my players] feel the same way.”

It appears Morgan has succeeded in getting players to believe in their ability to win on the road, as Blalock said the first five minutes will be key and expressed confidence in Iowa State’s chances for victory.

“We have to get the crowd out of it first,” Blalock said.

“The first five or 10 minutes is key to get the crowd out of it, and then it’s just outplaying the other team from there.

“If we can do that, then there is no reason we can’t win.”

Tipoff is set for Saturday at 11 a.m.