Conference action heats up for the ISU men’s basketball team this week as it travels to Colorado Saturday to face the Buffaloes. Iowa State is currently at the top of the Big 12 after beating conference foes Missouri and Nebraska.

Iowa State will have to overcome a lot of challenges when playing on the road in the Big 12, said head coach Wayne Morgan said Monday during the weekly Big 12 Teleconference.

“Most of it is having ability,” Morgan said. “Second is being able to concentrate and being able to compete and then, defensively and offensively, being able to execute.”

Iowa State’s only two losses this season came on the road against Virginia and San Diego State, but Morgan said his team learned a lot from those games.

“I think we got better after those games,” Morgan said. “We were able to discern some things we were doing wrong and correct them.”

Morgan said he isn’t surprised or shocked that his team is sitting at the top of the conference, and said the Cyclones will only get better as the season progresses.

“The team is still striving to reach towards its potential,” Morgan said. “I think this team is really working hard on a daily basis to improve. I think we may be getting to the point where we can compete with teams in the upper division, but I don’t know if we’re to the point where we’re going to beat teams in the upper division.”

Morgan also said his team’s ability to spread the ball around has been key in its success.

“We have great kids. They’ve really been unselfish; they really work hard together. They come in on a daily basis with a mindset of trying to get better. I also think they’re having fun playing, which obviously helps,” Morgan said.

Freshman Curtis Stinson was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the second time in three weeks. Morgan said Stinson is a tremendous player, talent and competitor.

“Curtis is an exceptional player and an exceptional talent,” Morgan said. “I knew he was very, very good, but maybe didn’t know he would be quite as good as he is right now.”

Morgan compared Stinson’s game to that of a Cyclone great from the past, along with an NBA great.

“I can describe him as Jamaal Tinsley meets Walt Frazier,” Morgan said. “He’s got [ball-handling skills] like a Jamaal Tinsley would. He has a New York City game. At the same time, he’s big and strong and smooth like Walt Frazier. He will do whatever he has to do to try to win. He is just an unbelievable competitor; the harder it gets, the more he focuses and tries to win.”

Morgan said Iowa State’s weapons other than Stinson will be integral in continuing the Cyclones’ success.

“The thing that we say everyday is lets come in and put our noses to the grindstone and try to get better as a team every day,” Morgan said. “I think if we do that there will come a time that, if this teams plays close to its maximum potential, we’ll definitely be happy with our results.”