As the ISU men’s basketball team heads into Saturday’s home game against Nebraska, some would think they are relieved to finally be playing a non-ranked opponent.

But in the Big 12, every game matters and no game is easy. Junior Jake Sullivan made it simple.

“Everyone in the Big 12 is a great player,” he said after a 64-59 loss to Missouri.

After showing signs of improvement and competitiveness against some of the nation’s top teams in Oklahoma and Texas, the Cyclones let a near-win on the road against No. 21 Missouri fall from their grasp.

“We should have won that ballgame,” freshman Adam Haluska said. “I thought we were the better team out there.”

Iowa State, now 10-5 and 0-4 in the Big 12, is still seeking that first conference win. Nebraska, 9-8 and 1-3 in the Big 12, could be that first win as the Huskers have yet to win on the road this season.

“There are some games we should have won. We’ve been in the last three with seven minutes left and we just haven’t been able to close them out,” Sullivan said. “It’s something we have to keep working on and hopefully it just starts happening. We have to have a couple good practices.”

Nebraska, which is still missing Jake Muhleisen and his nearly 12 points per game, had their only conference victory come in an overtime victory over Colorado, 80-77.

Head coach Larry Eustachy has stressed toughness all year with his team, and that is still the case. Point guard Tim Barnes, who came off the bench for the first time against Missouri, is one of those that needs more toughness.

“Tim has to get tougher in practice before he’s going to get tougher in the game,” Eustachy said.

Problems that plagued the Cyclones down the stretch of the Missouri game included turnovers and a lack of execution. “You just have to execute,” Haluska said. “It’s huge.”

The team’s attitude was slightly bruised after the Missouri game, but team leader and top scorer Sullivan has been in the situation before and knows what it will take to get back on track.

“You just have to keep coming back at practice every day, being tough. Hopefully it starts changing,” Sullivan said. “But it’s getting hard, it’s getting real hard to keep doing this everyday and then keep losing these games like this.”

Following Saturday’s match-up with Nebraska, Iowa State will hit the road once more to take on the longest winning streak in the country against Oklahoma State before returning home to face Baylor on Feb. 1.