It may not be the most storied rivalry in college sports, but ask any member of the ISU men’s basketball team and they will tell you how important it is to beat Iowa.

“Getting focused for Iowa isn’t too tough,” said Cyclone center Jared Homan, a Remsen native. “It’s in-state and everybody gets hyped for it. We have to come ready to play.”

Iowa State beat Iowa in a regular season matchup last year, claiming a 73-69 victory in Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes got the last laugh, however, as they defeated the Cyclones in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament last March.

That season-ending loss left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Cyclones and has many of them even more motivated.

“It’s something that really drove me to get back from my ankle injury,” senior guard Jake Sullivan said.

“The last time we played I was 3-for-16, 3-for-17, and they beat us, so it’s been something that has motivated me all summer,” he said.

Sullivan has another incentive to perform well.

“It’s another big game, and not just because it’s against Iowa. It’s one we have to win,” Sullivan said. “It’s the last time I’ll play them, so it means a lot to me.”

The team that faces Iowa this time around has changed dramatically from last spring. Several Cyclones will have their first taste of the rivalry.

Iowa State will start freshmen Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock against the Hawkeyes, and Wayne Morgan will be facing Iowa for the first time as Iowa State’s head coach.

“I’ve talked to a lot of the new guys, especially the freshmen,” said Homan, one of three native Iowans on the team.

“Being [from] so far away, they really don’t understand it. The only way that you can explain it to them is to say it’s like Florida-Florida State or something to that magnitude.

“Everybody in the state is going to be talking about it for the rest of the year.”

While he and the other new faces may not be familiar with the history of the rivalry, Stinson already knows to expect a game like he has never seen before.

“This is like a regular game, but there will be a lot of high intensity,” Stinson said. “We don’t want anyone to come in here and take our home court from us, and nobody wants us to do it to them either.

“Iowa has a good team and some good players, and we have some good players and have a good team, so we have to protect our home court.”