Thursday night’s Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk game in Iowa City will be an entirely new challenge for the Cyclones.

Iowa State is yet to play a true road game, and the Hawkeyes are the first ranked opponent for coach Steve Prohm’s squad this year.

The Maui Invitational contained a loaded field this year, featuring three top-10 teams and multiple national powerhouses. Finishing 2-1 in Maui like Iowa State did this year would seem to be an accomplishment, but the Cyclones avoided all three top-10 teams. Keep in mind, there was a strong contingent of Cyclone fans in Maui, making games an even split or even pro-Iowa State.

That makes the game with Iowa even more important. The Hawkeyes are 6-2 and are currently the highest-ranked team, by the Associated Press poll and KenPom, the Cyclones will face until their second Big 12 game when Kansas comes to Hilton Coliseum on Jan. 5.

With such a young team — six of Iowa State’s top eight players this year had never appeared in a game for Iowa State before this season — the rivalry game is bigger than it normally would be.

“They [the freshmen] have been thrown into the fire, and I think baptism by fire can be one of the best things for freshmen,” said redshirt junior forward Michael Jacobson. “They had to be ready, it’s not like ‘hey, we can wait around for you.'”

With this being the first true road game for the four freshmen, and without Lindell Wigginton (who scored 24 points against the Hawkeyes last season) Iowa State’s freshmen can’t have freshmen moments on Thursday.

“[They] just need to keep a straight head,” said redshirt senior Nick Weiler-Babb, who has played twice against Iowa. “The fans out there are crazy. Iowa City in general is just a crazy place.

“It’s gonna be a good test for us. We’ve got vets and we’ve got some young guys … but we need to focus on us. Keep doing what we’re doing.”

Weiler-Babb scored 15 points against Iowa last season and added 10 assists and six rebounds.

The last time Iowa State won its first true road game was the 2015-16 season, when the Cyclones won at Cincinnati, 81-79. The Cyclones were 0-10 in true road games last year and haven’t won on another team’s home floor since Feb. 20, 2017 against Texas Tech.

That’s 11 straight road losses.

Freshman Talen Horton-Tucker said he expects the Cyclones can “quiet them down,” in Iowa City.

Over the last 10 games in Iowa City, the Cyclones have won three times. Quieting them down isn’t an easy task, especially when Iowa comes into the game with a 6-2 record and a top 25 ranking.

My guess? I think Iowa State starts hot, just like they have every recent game.

But keeping up that energy in a hostile environment will be the challenge. When adversity hits at Hilton Coliseum, all it takes is a basket to get the crowd back into the game. On the road, however, players won’t get that second wind. It was a problem all of last season for the Cyclones.

Thursday will be the first chance for Iowa State to prove the remains of last year’s 13-18 record are truly gone.