The last time No. 9 Kansas and No. 24 Iowa State met on the hardwood, it felt as though the Cyclones laid the groundwork for a run at the Big 12 regular-season title. 

Of course, two wins and two losses later, the Cyclones do find themselves tied at the top of the conference, but one-third of the way through, there’s zero clarity.

Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Texas Tech are all deadlocked in the standings, so Monday night’s game between the first two teams in that list will have some weight in regards to how the rest of the season plays out. 

With a second win over the Jayhawks, Iowa State would have the tiebreaker in the event of an end-of-season tie between the two schools.

If the Big 12 continues to be as cannibalistic as is has been through the first six games, that could come in handy.

But it’s not what Iowa State’s focusing on, according to coach Steve Prohm.

“It’s hard winning on the road,” Prohm said. “They’re [Kansas] going to be as dialed in as ever. Their focus is going to be as sharp as ever.”

Kansas is coming off of a loss on the road to West Virginia on Saturday and will be wanting to protect its home floor, where the Jayhawks have yet to lose this season. 

With star center Udoka Azubuike out for the season with a thumb injury, the Jayhawks have turned to transfer forward Dedric Lawson for production inside. Lawson has averaged 18.9 points per game on 51.2 percent shooting from the floor and is the team’s leading scorer. The Jayhawks have spread out their scoring more recently, with four players now averaging double-digit points per game in conference play (Lawson, Lagerald Vick, Marcus Garrett and Devon Dotson). 

The defense of Michael Jacobson and Cam Lard on the interior will help dictate how successful Kansas’s offense is on the night.

Turnovers plauged Kansas against the Mountaineers, with the Jayhawks coughing it up 18 times — a number only exceeded by the 24 giveaways Kansas had the first time they played Iowa State.

Now, 24 turnovers isn’t likely to happen again, particularly with Kansas undefeated at home. 

Sophomore guard Lindell Wigginton knows it’ll be a fight.

“The Big 12 is tough, it’s a grind,” Wigginton said. “We just gotta bring it every day.”

From Iowa State’s perspective, Wigginton and Lard will make a key difference off the bench. If they provide a scoring punch, it will ease the burden of Big 12-leading scorer Marial Shayok and the Iowa State starters. How the Cyclones handle the Allen Fieldhouse crowd is something to keep an eye on as well.