Momentum could be gained Saturday as the Cyclones look for a second straight win against Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys fell to Iowa State the first time around with the Cyclones defending their home court with an 89-82 win. The next matchup between the two will be in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

“I expect that game to be very physical,” freshman guard Tre Jackson said. “It’s gonna be won in the paint.”

The two teams haven’t performed well in conference play, but the Cyclones hold the advantage with a 5-10 record. The Cowboys are 4-11 during Big 12 play.

Iowa State had the advantage last time, but since the last meeting between the two, the Cyclones have lost their star point guard — sophomore Tyrese Haliburton — and Iowa State hasn’t yet won a game in an opponent’s building.

Oklahoma State is one of the two teams ranked below the Cyclones in the standings, so Iowa State will be vying for its first road win.

In its last game against TCU, Iowa State was given a big boost from Jackson who connected on four of his seven threes and tallied 18 points en route to a last minute win over TCU.

Jackson has seen a bump in minutes and has made the most of it as his conference percentage from three is sitting at 41.9 percent.

“I’m letting it fly right now,” Jackson said. “Just shooting, more confident but during the season I’ve really been confident the whole season.”

Jackson’s “let it fly” mentality wasn’t as prevalent toward the start of the season on the stat sheet with him only finding sparing opportunities to shoot.

Jackson isn’t the only one who has seen his role increase since Haliburton’s injury.

Sophomore guard Rasir Bolton became one of the primary ball-handlers when Haliburton went down as he has split time with redshirt senior guard Prentiss Nixon.

“My thing with [Rasir] is always wanting more,” Head Coach Steve Prohm said. “I was like ‘hey man you’re doing this but man I’ve seen it I’ve been around it now and I just look at your innate ability man you got more on both ends of the floor to where you could be a dominating defender with your athleticism and size, but also be kind of a scoring point.'”

Nixon had one of his worst games against TCU on Tuesday and Bolton had played as the secondary point guard for much of his time with Haliburton on the court, so he has more experience this season with orchestrating the offense.

That showed Tuesday when Bolton racked up five assists in the first half alone when his shots weren’t falling.

Bolton’s ability as a passer hasn’t been a main focus, but it could come in handy down the stretch and in the future for the Cyclones who are in need of a floor general.

“With Tyrese being out it’s really more on me more of my job to make smart plays,” Bolton said.

On the other side of the ball, Iowa State’s defense showed something it hadn’t last game against TCU — especially in the first half.

Second half breakdown aside, Iowa State was a force on the defensive end, but Oklahoma State could provide some challenges.

Cameron McGriff, Isaac Likekele and Lindy Waters all average more than 10 points per game for the Cowboys and have started almost every game.

All three of them will be tough matchups to contain, along with Yor Anei and Thomas Dziagwa.

Prohm’s group will have its hands full Saturday with the end of the season rapidly approaching.