With nothing to lose and everything to gain, two teams are going to be battling for their first conference win as the ISU men’s basketball team hosts the Colorado Buffaloes at 7 p.m. Saturday in Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State has the home court edge, as Colorado hasn’t won in Ames since Feb. 19, 1991, losing 13 straight games against the Cyclones. Head coach Ricardo Patton is 0-9 at Hilton Coliseum since 1996-97.

After dropping its first three Big 12 Conference games, including the first home loss of the season, Iowa State is focusing on its upcoming games.

“We just have to look past [a 0-3 conference start] and just start winning games,” ISU freshman forward Rahshon Clark said. “If we look back at that, we’ll put our heads down, then we’ll lose more games — and we can’t have that.”

Clark said the team has lost games it should have won, but the team is getting better.

“We already lost one home game,” Clark said. “We’re not going to recap that again.”

Sophomore guard Will Blalock said the schedule is becoming more favorable for the Cyclones.

“We’re coming up to the schedule now where we can win three or four games in a row, I believe,” Blalock said. “We’re probably at the bottom of the barrel of the Big 12, so there is an urgency to win.”

Colorado (8-7 overall, 0-4 in the Big 12) is coming off a 67-59 loss at Baylor on Wednesday after the Bears started the game on a 18-1 run.

The Buffaloes lost their top three scorers from last year in David Harrison, Michel Morandais and Blair Wilson who averaged 17.1, 16.1 and 12.3 points per game respectively.

After missing eight games with a torn tendon in his left foot, junior center Julius Ashby returned to action against Baylor and scored six points in 16 minutes off the bench.

Freshman guard Richard Roby has helped the offense, leading the Buffaloes in scoring at 14.9 points per game.

Chauncey Billups, last year’s NBA Finals MVP, was the last freshman to lead Colorado in scoring with 17.9 points per game in 1995-96. The 6-foot-6 Roby is also averaging 4.9 rebounds per game. After a week off since its 83-73 loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater last Saturday, the Cyclones have had time to nurse some injuries. Team trainer Vic Miller said no players will miss the game.

It is probable that Curtis Stinson, who sprained his left knee in the second half of the Oklahoma State game, will play, Miller said.

With a void left by the dismissal of Reggie George, Clark has started to see more time down low and has started four games so far his rookie season. He also garnered the No. 1 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays after a thunderous dunk during the win over Virginia.

“Rahshon has made good progress,” ISU men’s basketball head coach Wayne Morgan said. “He’s been a great guy to coach. I think he’s capable of getting us 8 to 10 points a game.”

Clark said the move to the paint has given him some difficulty, but not much.

“There are bigger guys and some are stronger, but I just think of it as playing back in high school,” Clark said. “I was the 4 and 5 back in high school so I really don’t have a problem with it.”

Over the last few games, the biggest problem in Iowa State’s game has been its start to the second half.

“We seem to have this nasty habit we have developed, that at the beginning of the second half we think we have to spot the other team 10 points and go from there,” Morgan said. “Hopefully, we’ll get over that.”