A road game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the toughest matchup to date was enough for the No. 14 Iowa State Cyclones to be anxious about. Doing it without the team’s hottest hand and key contributor, Bryce Dejean-Jones, only complicates things more.

Dejean-Jones was arrested the morning of Dec. 11 and charged with hosting a drug house, a nuisance party violation and a noise ordinance violation. A judge determined there was no probable cause to charge Dejean-Jones with hosting a drug house, a serious misdemeanor, and he was released from police custody.

While his most serious charge was a simple misdemeanor, ISU coach Fred Hoiberg suspended Dejean-Jones for the Iowa game. After having one of the best seven-game stretches from an ISU basketball player in recent memory, the Cyclones will have to find a way to win without their star transfer—and they think they will.

“I definitely think we’re going to find out who we are,” said guard Naz Long. “It’s a true test of character. It’s definitely going to show us who we are going into a tough place in [Carver-Hawkeye Arena], so it will be good.”

It’s not easy to replace about 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game, but if there is any team that has shown it can do it, it’s the Cyclones. After Georges Niang went down with a foot injury in the NCAA tournament last year, the team rallied to pull off a win against North Carolina to advance to the Sweet 16, where they would fall to eventual national champions, UConn by five points.

The situations and players involved are different, but the team’s attitude and focus doesn’t change. In fact, Niang says without Dejean-Jones, not much will change at all.

“We still have five players on the floor, they still have five players on the floor, so it doesn’t change what we’re doing,” Niang said. “A lot of guys can be given opportunities to make shots and I think that’s what they’re going to do.”

But against the Iowa Hawkeyes (8-2, 0-0 Big Ten), making shots will be no easy task. The Hawkeyes are No. 7 nationally in opponent field goal percentage, holding teams to just 33.7 percent shooting.

But perhaps the biggest disadvantage the Cyclones face is size. With key players like 7-foot-1-inch Adam Woodbury and 6-foot-9-inch Aaron White, the Cyclones will be looking up at their opponents for much of the game.

“We’re fighting size every night the way our roster is,” Hoiberg said. “It’s something that we’re always trying to figure out how we’re [first] going to stop them and [second], how we’re going to attack it.”

But who will step up into the starting position Dejean-Jones previously filled? That’s to be determined, with Matt Thomas and Abdel Nader likely the frontrunners.

However, the team isn’t worried about that. After a classic ending to last season’s Cy-Hawk game, Niang says the rivalry will help fuel whoever ends up playing. But facing the most adversity they have all season in the biggest game of the season, Hoiberg knows the Hawkeyes will have no mercy.

“It’s a team that is really playing good basketball right now and if we want any chance of winning, we’ve got to do a heck of a lot better than we did in that second half [against UMKC],” Hoiberg said. “It’s a great opportunity to go into a hostile environment for the first time this year and hopefully we’ll handle it well. If we don’t, it could be an ugly one.”