If there was ever a time for Iowa and Iowa State to be in a “must win” situation, that time would be now.

Iowa State is 7-6, and has come up short three of the past 4 games.  Two of which were losses at Hilton Coliseum, one, a blowout to Iowa, and the other, an embarrassing home defeat to Florida A&M.  Nevertheless, the loss to Florida A&M was without star player, Tyrese Haliburton.  However, a home loss to one of the worst Division 1 teams is inexcusable, no matter the situation.

The most recent loss for Iowa State was a heartbreaking defeat at TCU on Saturday in overtime.  A game in which Haliburton posted his second career triple-double.

Tonight, the Cyclones get the opportunity to redeem themselves against one of country’s premiere programs; Kansas.  The Jayhawks make the trip to Ames with an 11-2 record, and a #3 ranking in the latest AP Poll.  In recent history, Steve Prohm’s team has protected its home court versus Kansas, but those teams in years past possessed an offensive firepower this team hasn’t shown its capable of producing.  On paper, Kansas is better in nearly every statistical category, but ISU has Hilton Magic.

One would think that the Cyclones would need another “triple-double-like” effort from Haliburton, along with significant contributions from the supporting cast to escape with a victory tonight.  Key role players for the Crimson and Gold would be guys like Dallas County native, Michael Jacobson, Rasir Bolton, and George Conditt IV.

Haliburton is leading Iowa State with nearly 18 points, 6 boards, and almost 8 dimes per night.

Kansas will be bringing a familiar face to Ames tonight, as former Iowa guard, Isaiah Moss has transferred to Bill Self’s squad for his Senior campaign.  Moss is playing around 22 minutes per game for Kansas, so far this season.

Iowa State and Kansas will tip off at 7:00pm tonight from Hilton Coliseum.  You can listen to the game on 99.7FM or AM1310 KDLS.  Join John Walters, and the Cyclone Network at 6:00pm this evening for pregame coverage.

For the guys in Iowa City, who just last week were ranked #23 in the country, the season seems to have taken a 180 degree turn in the past five days.

The Hawkeyes were 10-3 overall, and 1-1 in Big 10 Conference play heading to Philly last weekend to face Penn State.  In retrospect, a game in which Iowa controlled on the floor, ended with the Hawks fading and the Nittany Lions hitting timely jump shots to secure the game.  Iowa Freshman Guard, CJ Fredrick didn’t play in the second half on Saturday after sustaining an ankle injury.

That loss dropped Iowa out of the AP Top 25, with two games looming on the schedule this week.  The first game of the week for Iowa was in Lincoln, Nebraska last night.  The Huskers escaped with a win, and improved to 7-8 under first year Head Coach, Fred Hoiberg.  Nebraska shot the ball at a better clip than they had all season, while Iowa, seemingly, couldn’t hit water if it had fallen out of a boat.  The Hawkeyes shot just 4/33 from deep on Tuesday.

Iowa came out sluggish, and fought back from 11 down to take the lead, momentarily, in the second half, however the Huskers were relentless and took the win.

Iowa, now 10-5 overall, and just 1-3 in Big 10 action, will face a daunting task on Friday as they set to host Maryland.  The Hawkeyes are looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd, once again.  Iowa has played 8 of its past 10 games away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  Tuesday’s performance in Lincoln showed the Hawks road weariness.

Fran McCaffrey’s team has sustained countless season ending injuries, starting with Forward, Jack Nunge’s torn ACL, followed by Patrick McCaffrey’s long battle with cancer, has again lead to the Freshman out of the line-up “indefinitely.”  Then, in December, Senior Guard, Jordan Bohannon, opted to Redshirt this season and underwent hip surgery.  Most recently, CJ Fredrick is now listed “day-to-day” with a stress related injury to his ankle.  Additionally, Iowa also played at Nebraska with a less than 100% Connor McCaffrey, who fell ill this past weekend.

Iowa will push on with a match versus #12 Maryland on Friday in Iowa City.  Maryland seems to have slipped into its niche, as of late, with impressive, dominant wins over Indiana, and #11 Ohio State.  The Hawkeyes will need another dominant performance from Center, Luka Garza, along with with Sophomore, Joe Weiskamp to get past the Terrapins.

Iowa and Maryland will tip off on Friday night at 6:00pm from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.