As the Cyclone men prepare for their weekend showdown with the Iowa Hawkeyes, they know they can ill-afford to look over their opponent on Wednesday night, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“They are a good team, they’re well coached. They have won two games on the road, something we’ve only done twice in two and a half years,” Iowa State head coach Larry Eustachy said.

The Panthers are 4-2 so far this year, a vast improvement over a year ago.

Cyclone guard Kantrail Horton is suffering from an ankle injury, but will try to play through it tonight.

“There are some chips floating around down there, I’m not really sure of the situation right now. I’m going to see the doctor on Thursday, but until then I’m going to tough it out,” Horton said.

The Cyclones are fresh off winning the title at the Cyclone Challenge.

ISU outscored its opponents by an average of 30.5 points in the victories.

The Cyclones know, however, that the competition will only grow steeper beginning tonight.

“We faced some teams that were kind of physical, but it’s still not what it’s going to be. The Big 12 is a tough league, and we have to be ready for it,” Rancik said.

So far this season, UWM has recorded wins over Central Michigan, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Troy State, and Michigan Tech.

The squad fell to Wisconsin, 69-49 at home, and lost at Ball State 71-58.

The team finished 8-19 last year, and returns only one starter.

They are led by newcomer Clay Tucker, who leads the team in both points and rebounds at 14.8 and 5.4 per game.

“They are a difficult team to defend. They can do a lot of things offensively, and they will present some problems,” Eustachy said.

One thing that Eustachy has been excited about this season has been the play of junior forward Marcus Fizer.

The former McDonald’s All-American averaged 25.5 points and 10 rebounds in the Challenge games, and Eustachy said that those are the numbers Fizer needs to put up consistently.

“Marcus is a different player this year. He’s matured a great deal and has been very responsive to the coaching,” Eustachy said.

“He’s been the best player on the court in a number of the games this year,” he said.

The Cyclones have also been helped by the play of newcomers Jamaal Tinsley and Horton, who has been productive with solid outside shooting.

He says that the backcourt has not had trouble finding a rhythm.

“We were able to work together well from the start, and hopefully we can continue to improve. We’re not where we need to be yet, but we’re getting there,” Horton said.

The Cyclones know that they can’t afford to look over a team like UWM, and Horton says that won’t be a problem.

“We just take it one game at a time. We know we can’t afford to take any team lightly, because we could get beat,” he said.

The game will tip off at 7 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.