While the rankings and records might be skewed toward one side of the matchup between the Iowa State Cyclones (9-10, 2-4 Big 12) and the No. 1 Baylor Bears (17-1, 6-0), if the last game the two teams played on Jan. 15 showed anything, it’s that the Cyclones had a chance to take the Bears down, until they let it slip away.

So with the Bears coming into Hilton Coliseum for the rematch on Wednesday, riding an undefeated record in conference play, the Cyclones are walking in knowing exactly what they have to do: Play more aggressively and don’t let up at all.

Iowa State played with that mentality against the Bears in the first half, four seconds away from being down just two points at the break, until a late foul by Tre Jackson gave the Bears a five point lead. While the three points added on by the foul may not have decided the game, the foul would prove to be the start of an ugly second half for the Cyclones, where the game was eventually put out of reach.

The Bears came out of the half on a 17-3 run that spanned the first six minutes of the half, whereas the Cyclones began the half 1-7 from the floor with two turnovers.

Tyrese Haliburton’s role (or lack thereof) in the Cyclone’s ability to score and defend against the Bears the first time around played a big factor in Iowa State having to play more stagnant on offense and being unable to contain the paint that the Bears dominated 34-22 in the first matchup.

Haliburton said his team is ready for the challenge and knows that the Cyclones can’t afford to have lapses on defense and offense if they want a shot at taking down No. 1.

“We’re ready, looking forward to the challenge for sure, stuff in the first game I felt like we missed a couple of opportunities, in crunch time they played well but we felt like we let one get away, we felt like we could have played better so we’re definitely looking forward to the challenge,” Haliburton said.

Baylor has done plenty to earn its ranking, with wins against two of the current top 10 teams in the country, so while Haliburton and the Cyclones want to play with more assertiveness and focus, he knows nothing will come easy.

“Compete for 40 minutes, I think we did really well the first half of the last game and the second half kind of died down and we gotta make open shots, it’s easier said than done,” Haliburton said.

Terrence Lewis said he feels the same way as Haliburton when it comes to how Iowa State must approach its rematch on Wednesday, playing with a much higher level of intensity and attention to detail that Iowa State lacked for much of the second half against the Bears the first time around.

Lewis played a big factor in Iowa State’s attempted comeback against No. 16 Auburn on Saturday with 12 points on 4-7 shooting. Coach Steve Prohm even said that Lewis plays with a style that Iowa State has needed over the last few weeks. With that high praise offered by his coach, Lewis could be an important piece to the puzzle that Iowa State will try and solve.

Lewis is not taken aback by Baylor’s ranking and is only focusing on making sure he and the rest of his teammates come onto the court with that aggressive mentality the coaching staff and team have been preaching leading up to Wednesday night.

“Congrats to them being the number one team but we just gotta go out there and play very hard and play the right way like coach Prohm texted me,” Lewis said.

Prohm’s overall message to the team as they approached Wednesday’s game is to not be afraid to play tougher.

Guarding the ball and having more aggressiveness on defense, as well as offense, will be the main goal for the Cyclones when it’s time to face the Bears.

“The number one thing, if you had to pick one thing, we gotta guard the ball a lot better, we gotta compete a lot better on the ball, we’ve played too passive on the ball, afraid of getting beat off the dribble or whatever it may be, we gotta be more aggressive on the ball the way people try to get in to us,” Prohm said.