Iowa State sits in the thick of the Big 12 race at 4-3, but the conference slate will have to sit on hold for a weekend.

The 24th-ranked Cyclones (14-5, 4-3 Big 12) will play at No. 20 Mississippi (14-4, 4-2 SEC) at 11 a.m. Saturday as part of the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

While playing a big road game like this one can make for a good NCAA Tournament resumé boost, coach Steve Prohm said the timing of the event can make it a little odd.

“Yeah, in a perfect world [the game would be in November or December],” Prohm said. “On the flip side when you look at it from all angles, the SEC’s obviously got a great league, great coaches, great players … it’s a great chance.”

Iowa State has played in this challenge five times, winning the first two matchups but losing each of the three games under Prohm.

However, the Cyclones have faced some tough luck in those matchups. Three years ago, SEC regular season champion Texas A&M hosted the Cyclones and mounted a late comeback to win. Iowa State again played the SEC champion last season when Tennessee won at Hilton Coliseum.

Mississippi presents an interesting challenge. The Rebels are a top 25 team, boasting wins this season over the likes of Baylor and Auburn.

Iowa State already has key wins over Kansas and at Texas Tech, but another road victory would go a long way for the Cyclones’ postseason resumé.

“We haven’t played to the potential I know we can play at,” said redshirt senior guard Marial Shayok. “All the games we lost we could’ve done something better to change the outcome.”

Iowa State will need its guards to play well Saturday. Both of Mississippi’s two leading scorers are guards. The Rebels have the 29th best offense in the nation, according to KenPom, and they’re 8-1 this season at home.

“It’s a good opportunity to go get a win,” said freshman guard Tyrese Haliburton. “They’re a top 25 team. It’ll be good to get out of conference for a little bit and play someone that we’re not used to.”

That non-conference matchup in the middle of the Big 12 slate could be beneficial. It’s similar to postseason play where teams don’t know their matchups until as few as two days before the game.

In a similar sense, the Cyclones are familiar with every Big 12 team, already facing teams like Kansas and Oklahoma State twice in 2019. Iowa State hasn’t played Mississippi since 2000.

Redshirt senior guard Nick Weiler-Babb is the only current Cyclone to have faced Mississippi before. As a member of Arkansas in 2014-15, Weiler-Babb played five minutes against the Rebels in a 96-82 Mississippi win.

The Rebels this season have had issues defending the 3-point line. Teams are shooting 34.3 percent from deep against them, making Mississippi the 186th-best 3-point defense.

That makes players like Haliburton and Shayok even more important for Iowa State. The Cyclones have shot well from 3-point land this season, led by Haliburton’s 44.9 percent.

Prohm has some familiarity with Mississippi coach Kermit Davis Jr., who was at Middle Tennessee from 2002-18. Prohm said there’s some good news for Iowa State on Saturday.

“Whenever we played, the road team always won,” Prohm said. “Hopefully that holds going forward.”