The Cyclones will be leaving the cold and frigid Iowa winter for the next few days, but the upcoming games on the schedule will be anything but warm and rosy. 

Iowa State (10-4, 1-2 Big 12) kicks off a grueling three-game stretch Wednesday when it travels to Sillwater, Oklahoma, to take on Oklahoma State (10-5, 0-3 Big 12) followed by a road game against TCU on Saturday. To cap off the string of games, Iowa State will play No. 2 Kansas on ESPN’s Big Monday at Hilton Coliseum. 

But the Cyclones will have to hold off on getting ahead of themselves. The Cowboys present challenges that don’t show through their winless record in conference. 

Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State’s sophomore guard, is averaging 18.9 points per game this season, ranking second in the Big 12. Iowa State didn’t face Evans last season while he sat out the last nine games with an injury. 

Evans was a highly-rated NBA Draft prospect last year, and many predicted him to declare for the draft after his freshman season. But the injury forced him to come back for another year. 

“It was tough for him,” said Naz Mitrou-Long, who gained an extra year after sitting out with a hip injury for the majority of last season. “I’m happy he’s back, having the year he is. Now I’ll have to be chasing him on the court for one more year. I thought he was done, but here we are.” 

Iowa State has found success at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater in recent years, winning the last three games there after going winless from 1989-2013. Mitrou-Long certainly has fond memories in the arena. In 2014, Mitrou-Long hit a 3-pointer late in the second overtime to send the game to a third extra period. The Cyclones won 98-97.

He’ll have that memory in the back of his mind, but it won’t be the sole focus for the fifth-year guard. 

“[This stretch of games is] huge,” Mitrou-Long said. “You want to go 1-0 each game, but this stretch right here can be great momentum for our streak. Two on the road — any road games in this conference [are] as big as any games — it’s a big stretch and one that we’ll focus on.” 

The Cyclones won’t be staying on the road after their game against Oklahoma State. They’ll come back to Ames later this week and head out to Forth Worth, Texas, after recuperating.

“[I thought] that wouldn’t be a bad idea,” coach Steve Prohm said. “If I was where I used to be [Murray State], we’d probably just stay gone for four days. The Oklahoma State flight is just an hour, so we’ll be back in no time. Then we’ll go back. You could do that, but we’ve got school and that stuff.” 

The next three string of games will provide the Cyclones with an opportunity to turn their season around in a sense.

After dropping close games against now-No. 1 Baylor, now-No. 22 Cincinnatti and now- No. 5 Gonzaga earlier in the season, Iowa State could make a statement with three straight wins, including a victory against No. 2 Kansas. 

“It’s going to show that we’ve always been a good team,” point guard Monte Morris said. “Three losses, besides Iowa, have been decided by five points. We’ll just show that we’re a good team, and we didn’t put our head down and whine. We just got back to the grind.”