The Iowa State men’s basketball team could be forgiven for taking a moment to celebrate the Cyclones’ impressive 77-60 home win over now-No. 7 Kansas. The win jumped Iowa State into the AP Top 25 for the first time this season, landing at No. 20 in Monday’s rankings. 

But, in the Big 12, there isn’t any time to bask in a big win because a trap game might be right around the corner. 

With a trip to Baylor up next for the Cyclones at 6 p.m. on Tuesday (ESPNews), the Cyclones are trying to avoid a letdown and move to 3-0 in the Big 12. In order to navigate the Bears, they’ll have beat a defense the Cyclones have hardly seen all season long: a 2-3 zone. 

Junior forward Michael Jacobson said the Cyclones have options to get past the zone.

“We’re just getting ready for it and trying to put in some actions — some little twists here or there that’ll help us hopefully find some open areas,” Jacobson said. 

Baylor coach Scott Drew has implemented the same matchup 2-3 zone for much of his nine-year tenure with the program, where the Bears have reached the Elite Eight and frequently challenge in the top half of the conference. 

This year, however, the Bears aren’t positioned so well. Thanks to a loss to TCU to start conference play, coupled with non-conference losses to Wichita State, Texas Southern and Stephen F. Austin, the Bears have an 8-5 record. While Baylor does have wins over Arizona, Oregon and Ole Miss, the Bears aren’t expected to make a tournament run, returning only three returning roster members from last season’s 19-15 team. 

The Bears’ zone is formidable, but can be schemed against, as pointed out below:

The Cyclones will need to use their abundance of ballhandlers to play to their advantage, particularly when the Bears extend the zone to half-court in an effort to squeeze Iowa State’s guards and create turnovers.

“Move the ball and cut, attack the zone,” said senior guard Marial Shayok about beating Baylor’s defense. “We can all make plays for each other and can shoot it pretty well.”

All things considered, it sets up for an Iowa State team riding high after a statement-making win over Kansas to get complacent.

But coach Steve Prohm said the Cyclones haven’t taken their eyes off the target. 

“We already talked about that [Sunday],” Prohm said. “We need to play with the same focus and effort like everybody’s Kansas.”

On the defensive end for Iowa State, the lengthy guards the Cyclones can put on the court could cause issues for Baylor’s guards, particularly sharpshooter Makai Mason. The 6-foot-1 transfer from Yale will face a harder time of getting free for open jumpers, with Nick Weiler-Babb and Tyrese Haliburton likely to be shadowing the Bears’ third-leading 3-point shooter. 

Prohm said the Cyclones have to keep defending at a high clip in order to have a chance to compete with Kansas for a conference title.

“It’s something we talk about all the time,” Prohm said. “We gotta continue to be active.”

On paper, the Bears figure to be a team Iowa State should corral. But the game isn’t played on paper, and should is a lot different than actually doing the job. If Iowa State wants to be a factor in the race for the Big 12 title, these are the games it can’t drop.