Before Wednesday’s practice in advance of Iowa State’s final game of the regular season, coach Steve Prohm popped in the game film of Iowa State’s 85-72 loss to West Virginia at Hilton Coliseum — the worst home loss in four years. 

He compared it to his team’s play over its current six-game win streak.

It was night and day. 

“We are a different basketball team right now,” Prohm said. “I just think we have a different confidence than we had in that game, to be honest.” 

Star point guard Monte Morris was a little more blunt. 

“They are a good team, but we played terrible — terrible,” he said. “I feel like when you play terrible in this league, you lose.” 

The No. 24 Cyclones (20-9, 12-5 Big 12) will see just how different they are when they play No. 10 West Virginia (23-7, 11-6 Big 12) at 6 p.m. Friday in Morgantown, West Virginia. The implications for this game are large, as Iowa State could clinch the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and raise its stock for the NCAA Tournament in one fell swoop. 

As it stands now, the Cyclones are in sole possession of second place in the Big 12, one game ahead of Baylor and West Virginia. They already have clinched at least a share of second place in the Big 12, but still have work to do to grab the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. 

If the Cyclones lose, there are various scenarios that could land them as the No. 3 or 4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. But an outright win would guarantee their fate. 

“Yeah, we need this game,” Morris said. “We need this win. If we get this win, we’re in a great spot to go into the Big 12 Tournament and make some noise. We’d rather have it outright instead of sharing it.”

West Virginia kept Morris quiet the last time around. He was held to just eight points and two assists while shooting 4-for-14 overall in the 35 minutes he played. 

“They’re going to be aggressive with me, drive me a lot,” Morris said. “I’ve just got to be more dominating and be more aggressive and man up and get the ball to guys that can take it away and get us into offense.” 

This game will have large NCAA Tournament implications as well. The Cyclones are projected either as a No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 seed, according to several predictions. 

Prohm was hesitant to say where he thinks his team should fall, but Iowa State has risen its stock over the past few weeks, winning six-straight games. 

“I don’t want to put [a projection] out there because then they’ll say, ‘We don’t want to put him higher than that,'” Prohm said. “I think we’re putting ourself in better position over the past few weeks.”