Bouncing back is a difficult proposition in the Big 12. 

With a double round-robin schedule and — for the most part — two games per week, teams don’t have the option of reflecting too much on what went wrong in previous games. 

After an 0-2 week in which the Cyclones went from challengers to Kansas’ decade-plus long throne atop the Big 12 to .500 in the conference, Iowa State’s first chance to get back on the winning side of things is against No. 8 Texas Tech on the road. 

The Red Raiders are 15-1 on the year, 4-0 in Big 12 play and 10-0 on their home court this season. The Cyclones, meanwhile, have won just one of their three road games this season and are coming off of two one-possession defeats.

The Cyclones struggled offensively for much of the first half against Kansas State, picked up their play in the start of the second half and then scored two points in the final five minutes of game action after going up 55-48.

The Cyclones’ recent inability to close games out has been something coach Steve Prohm touched on, both following the loss Saturday and in his weekly Monday press conference.

“We weren’t good enough,” Prohm said of the team’s play last week. “We know what we gotta do to get better, and where else better than [to] go play the best defense in the country.”

The Red Raiders hang their hat on defense, with the team allowing a league-low 54 points per game and forcing opponents to commit 17 turnovers per contest. The swarming defense Tech coach Chris Beard has instilled in the Red Raiders team, has taken them from a Big 12 non-factor into, potentially, the closest competition Kansas will have for a 15th-consecutive regular-season conference title.

On the injury front for Iowa State, redshirt sophomore forward Cameron Lard is expected to be in uniform for Wednesday night’s game, although Prohm did cast some doubt onto his actual workload against Texas Tech. 

“Taking it a day at a time,” Lard said of his ankle. “Still planning on going [Wednesday], just depends on the day of the game.

“I think it’s a big time opportunity for us, just based off the fact that we lost these last two games and let them slip away.”

Lard’s health is of even greater importance to the Cyclones with junior forward Solomon Young out for the year and seeking a medical redshirt.

The news was announced by Prohm after the loss to Kansas State, in which Young did not play. The reason given was for Young to continue to get back into basketball-playing shape and start the next season at 100 percent. 

“It was something that I considered when I initially injured my groin,” Young said of his decision to redshirt. “I tried my best to come back, but just how things were going, with the recurring pain and tightness, I just thought this would be best for me.”

As Lard works his way back into getting minutes, more pressure will be put on freshman center George Conditt IV to play important minutes. Conditt IV played 17 minutes against Kansas State and scored a career-high nine points. 

Michael Jacobson, the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.6 points per contest, will have to get back to his early-season best against the Red Raiders.