The finish line is in sight, but the road isn’t getting any easier.

The ISU men’s basketball team is down to its final five games of the regular season, with three of those games coming on the road.

With their 82-70 loss to Missouri Wednesday, the Cyclones have lost 22 consecutive conference road games, a streak that could be hard to break this season as two of their three remaining road games come against Top 25 teams.

Iowa State’s next test comes against No. 21 Kansas, a team that is hard to take down at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

Iowa State knocked off the Jayhawks 68-61 in Ames last month — adding fuel to an already intense rivalry.

Curtis Stinson led the Cyclones with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the game, scoring 16 of those points in Iowa State’s furious second-half comeback. Down by eight at the half, Iowa State outscored Kansas 47-32 in the second period to wrap up the win.

“Any time you beat someone at [your] place and then go back to their place, they have a little extra incentive to play harder, there’s no question about that,” ISU head coach Wayne Morgan said.

“I would much rather go on the road having beaten them then go on the road having lost to them.”

Having tasted plenty of home success this season, many teams will greet the Cyclones looking for revenge.

“I’m sure they are [looking to get back at us],” freshman Will Blalock said.

“Every team is like that, just like Missouri was [Wednesday]. Everyone is going to want to get us back on the road.”

Not only will the intensity of the game be cranked up — the importance of each game becomes magnified this late in the season.

“Every game is important, but obviously these last five games are very important,” Morgan said. “We need to get better for the stretch run and for the development of our younger players, and we need to get better for the stretch run because it’s going to help us next year.”

Iowa State enters the game with a 14-8 overall record and a 5-6 mark in conference play. To have any hope of a postseason berth, the Cyclones must mount a strong run to close out the season.

“We have to win four games somehow,” senior guard Jake Sullivan said. “That’s our goal, our magic number, and from there it’s out of our hands.”

The Cyclones feel they have it in them to make a strong push.

“Everyone is confident. We’re just going to work hard and hopefully we can pull it out,” Blalock said.

To win, the Cyclones must protect the basketball, something they didn’t do in their loss to Missouri. Iowa State coughed up the ball 18 times against the Tigers, 12 times in the first half.

“They hurt,” Morgan said. “Turnovers always hurt, but to have 12 in the first half, that’s why we were down at halftime.”

Iowa State was also outrebounded 43-27 by Missouri.

Knowing their postseason hopes are on the line, the Cyclones can’t afford to look too far ahead.

“It would be big if we could get a win at Kansas and end this road losing streak and go from there,” Sullivan said. “It’s going to be two hungry teams, and we’ll see who comes out on top.”