After an 0-2 start to the Big 12 season, Iowa State knew it had question marks.

Saturday at 3 p.m., when Iowa State (9-4, 0-2 Big 12) tips off against Oklahoma State (10-4, 0-2 Big 12) in Stillwater, Oklahoma, it will have a chance to answer some of those questions.

The Cyclones have had issues this season, but one of those issues — depth — may be on its way to being solved.

Hans Brase, Jakolby Long and Zoran Talley Jr. have all missed time this season with injuries. Additionally, Cameron Lard missed the first two games of the year with off-the-court issues.

Long, a sophomore guard, is back. He has played 17 minutes over the last two games after missing five games in a six-game stretch while dealing with a concussion.

Brase hasn’t played since Dec. 16 against Northern Iowa. In his eight games, Brase has hit five 3-pointers from the forward spot, giving the Cyclones a much-needed perimeter threat from the front court.

He was supposed to be ready to go for Texas last Monday, but couldn’t go at the last minute.

Iowa State is 8-0 when Brase plays. When he doesn’t, the Cyclones are just 1-4.

“We missed him,” said coach Steve Prohm. “It is what it is… You know what he brings. He brings some skill, he brings some IQ, he brings a calming presence.”

Talley Jr. hasn’t been playing since leaving with a stress fracture in his foot against Western Illinois on Nov. 26. He also hasn’t been able to go through practices until recently.

“He’s super athletic,” said redshirt junior Nick Weiler-Babb. “He’s a vet, he’s older, so he knows how to play the game. He brings another level of experience that we need on the court so it’ll be big time for us to have another athlete and another older guy on the court.”

He’s still not 100 percent, however.

“The biggest thing with Zoran is we were playing him at two positions a month ago,” Prohm said. “He hasn’t done anything in a month. And you can see that when we’re going up and down yesterday [in practice].”

But none of those players have had quite the impact of Lard.

Lard has been stellar since making his debut in mid-November, but his best game came against Texas, in Iowa State’s 74-70 loss to the Longhorns on Monday.

The redshirt freshman piled on 21 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. The scoring and rebounding totals were both career-highs.

A challenge for Iowa State has been balancing the front court minutes. Senior forward Jeff Beverly has started all 13 games for the Cyclones this season, but he’s averaging just 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Beverly is shooting just 40 percent from the field, partly because he’s only 3-for-21 on 3-pointers this season.

Prohm was asked Thursday about a potential lineup change. His answer was short.

“Maybe,” Prohm said with a quick smirk.

Regardless of who starts alongside Solomon Young at the other forward spot, it seems likely that Lard will continue to get more minutes as he continues to improve.

“Once my name’s called, I’m just gonna get out there and perform the best I can,” Lard said.

Lard also said he approaches every game the same, regardless of who starts and who comes off the bench.

“Energy and the passion he plays with on the court,” Weiler-Babb said about Lard’s impact. “He always gets us involved, always gets us excited. The way he runs the floor just opens up the court so much.”

With Iowa State’s two-game losing skid, it’s no wonder changes to the lineup are being considered. After all, since Prohm took the job prior to the 2015-16 season, Iowa State hasn’t lost three games in a row. With the help of Lard in the starting lineup, maybe that streak can continue.