The Emerald Coast Classic allowed Iowa State the opportunity to face off against two Power-5 conference teams in Virginia Tech and Illinois, but Iowa State will be back battling against mid-majors this week as it takes on North Dakota State on Tuesday night.

No. 5 Iowa State (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) has three wins over Power-5 teams early in the season, which is a little unusual as Power-5 teams usually play against smaller schools to start the season. It might be easy for Iowa State to overlook a smaller, mid-major school like North Dakota State after winning against bigger schools like Colorado, Virginia Tech and Illinois.

“I think last year we actually took games like this for granted,” said point guard Monté Morris. “But now, knowing what we got at stake — being [the] No. 5 [team] in the country — we just got to approach everybody like it’s Colorado or Kansas or teams like that.”

Iowa State and NDSU have both played against Illinois already this season. Iowa State won 84-73 and NDSU recorded its lone loss of the season after falling to Illinois, 80-74.

“I think our biggest focus this year is no matter who we’re playing, just going out and playing our best,” Morris said. “North Dakota State or anybody, we’re going to go out there and play hard.”

After an early slate of Power-5 games across the Big 12, ACC and Big 10, ISU coach Steve Prohm said he isn’t worried about the Cyclones overlooking an opponent from outside the Power-5 conferences.

“The goal is to go 1-0 tomorrow,” Prohm said. “Not thinking about our record, not thinking about anything but trying to beat North Dakota State.”

NDSU may not be a Power-5 school, but when it comes to athletics, NDSU’s resume is impressive.

The Bison have won both the Summit League regular season title and Summit League conference tournament in each of the past two seasons and also made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

“They got a good program,” Prohm said. “A winning culture — both football and basketball — so we’ve got to be ready to go.”

Prohm provided a brief scouting report on the Bison.

“Defensively they really pack it in,” Prohm said. “We’re going to have to be very smart offensively. They’re physical and tough. They turn you over because they are in a pack so much that when you try to over penetrate, you turn it over. We got to make sure we’re getting ball reversals and playing with good pace.”

NDSU’s packed-in defense will likely give Iowa State’s sharpshooters a big advantage if Morris is able to successfully penetrate against the initial defenders and kick the ball out.

With Morris sporting an assist-to-turnover ratio that is currently hovering around 6-to-1 this season, Iowa State has to like Morris’ chances of doing just that.