The time has finally come for the Iowa State basketball team to prove that they can win outside the friendly confines of Hilton Coliseum.

After a ten-game homestand which saw them win by an average of 24.7 points per game, the Cyclones are anxious to prove to the nation that they can win anywhere.

“People are always talking about how we played an easy schedule, how we played at home all the time. Well, now we played a good team (Missouri) and won. Now we get to go on the road and prove we can win there,” leading scorer Marcus Fizer said.

His head coach also knows it’s imperative to be able to win away from home if they are to garner the respect they feel is rightfully due to them.

“It’s something you have to do. If you want to reach the goals that we’ve set, we have to go on the road and win,” Eustachy said.

He also has some ideas on facing a Husker team that has struggled without leading scorer Cookie Belcher.

“They are a very good team. This is the toughest game we’ve faced this year,” Eustachy said.

Considering the second-year coach has said this for virtually every game so far this year, his comments have to be taken with a grain of salt.

However, one thing that cannot be disputed is the difficulty of winning on the road in the Big 12.

It’s something that ISU has done only once in the past two years — last Jan. 16 when they defeated hapless Texas A&M.

Last season, despite playing with a backcourt that would have trouble winning a three-on-three game at the Rec, the Cyclones beat Nebraska 52-47 at Hilton, and suffered a heartbreaking 59-57 defeat in Lincoln.

The addition of Jamaal Tinsley and Kantrail Horton from the junior college ranks has completely changed the look of the team, and made the Cyclones a threat to win any game they play, at home or on the road.

However, the Cyclones have played only one game on the road this season, and it was one to forget.

The first Division I game for Horton and Tinsley — and the first for big man Paul Shirley in over a year — resulted in an ugly 48-44 loss at Drake.

The starting backcourt was a combined 3-24 from the field, and the Cyclones shot 27 percent from the field for the game.

After six weeks of play, however, the Cyclones feel they are now better equipped to go on the road.

Nebraska, meanwhile, has struggled this season. They already have lost to Western Michigan and San Francisco at the Devaney Center, and are 7-6 overall.

They do have an impressive victory over Minnesota, and had shown signs of improvement before being lambasted by Kansas State 97-79 to kick off the Big 12 season.

Nebraska is led in scoring by forward Larry Florence, who is averaging 13.0 points per game, and newcomer Steffon Bradford, who puts in 12.6 points per contest while also grabbing 8.2 rebounds to lead the team.

The Huskers are still trying to deal with the loss of Belcher, who is applying for a medical redshirt after not being able to rid himself of pain in his shooting wrist.

“You don’t replace a player like Belcher. He’s one of the best guards in the country, and we’re just doing the best with what we have,” Husker coach Danny Nee said.

What they have is a backcourt that includes point guard Danny Walker, a junior from L.A. who is scoring 11.7 points per game.

The other starting spot is taken by Rodney Fields, but also watch for Cary Cochran, an Iowa native who hit five three-pointers in the game against Kansas State.

ISU will need to take the supreme confidence with them on the bus to Lincoln to win this one, but at least one Cyclone doesn’t see the opposing arenas as a big obstacle.

“We feel like we can beat anybody, anywhere,” Fizer said.

The Cyclones will get their first chance to prove Fizer’s bold statement tonight.

The result will set a tone, one way or another, for the rest of the season.