Iowa State’s young, impactful forward was slumping.

Freshman Solomon Young, Iowa State’s newly minted starting center, had three rebounds and was held scoreless in the first half against Texas Tech on Monday night. The Cyclones were tied with the Red Raiders at 39.

Iowa State coach Steve Prohm approached Young at halftime to calm the freshman, who said he was struggling mentally.

“Don’t get frustrated because you’re a blue-collar type of dude,” Young said when asked what Prohm said to him. “So come into the second half and play like you know how to play.”

Young responded with six points, five rebounds and two steals down the stretch — not eye-popping statistics, but enough to help the Cyclones prevail in overtime.

Now, as Iowa State (18-9, 10-5 Big 12) enters the final three games of the regular season in a position to take second place in the Big 12, he’ll have to be a force again.

The Cyclones will take on No. 9 Baylor (23-5, 10-5 Big 12) — a team with considerable size — at 3 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. The Bears dominated down low in their 65-63 win in Waco, Texas, earlier this season, out-rebounding the Cyclones 47-28 and out-scoring them in the paint 40-24.

But Young played just 12 minutes in that game, scoring five points. Since he entered the starting lineup against Oklahoma on Feb. 11, he has averaged 28 minutes per game while bringing a welcome force around the rim.

“Solomon is helping everybody out there,” point guard Monte Morris said. “Because he’s just a body at the rim that can finish or alter plenty of shots. His presence is helping everybody on the roster.”

Baylor’s Jonathan Motley, who has put up an All-American season, is averaging 16.9 points and 9.7 rebounds in 30.2 minutes per game. He’s shooting 52 percent on the season, which is more impressive considering Motley’s notable mid-range game.

Young will have the big task of trying to slow down Motley, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds against the Cyclones earlier this season.

“Hopefully, [Young] wears down Motley and cools the big fella,” Morris said. [Young] can stretch out the floor against him and make some mid-range shots for us. … Solomon should be a good key and a big help Saturday.”

Iowa State is right in the middle of the hunt for second place in the Big 12, which makes Saturday’s game all the more interesting. The Cyclones are sitting in a three-way tie with Baylor and West Virginia, which Iowa State plays March 3.

A win against the Bears would give the Cyclones a leg up heading into the final two games of the season against Oklahoma State and the Mountaineers.

But Baylor has won the last two matchups at Hilton Coliseum and the last five games overall against the Cyclones.

“I’ve been on the end of all of those losses, so I’m looking forward to locking in and beating those guys,” Morris said. “They probably think they’re comfortable coming here because they have a lot of wins here in the previous years. This year can hopefully be different if we come in with a good mindset.”

It would have been hard to see Iowa State separating itself from the middle of the Big 12 pack just a month ago, especially after losing against an underwhelming Texas team on Feb. 7.

Prohm has noticed how far the team has gone.

“We’ve come a long ways,” Prohm said. “When you look at the second half of the season and you go and dissect these games prior, and you’re like, ‘Man, we looked bad.’ And we did.”

The road to the best of the rest in the conference may end Saturday if the Cyclones can’t pull out a win. But if they do emerge victorious, that No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament in just a couple of weeks will become clearer.

All they’ve got to do is deal with that pesky Baylor size.

“[Baylor is] big,” Young said. “I like playing against bigger dudes because they’re slower. I can use my versatility on the court and try to get around the big guys.”