The Iowa State Cyclones will try to stay unbeaten in the Big-12 on Saturday when they host sixth-ranked Kansas. The Cyclones are 2-0 in the conference after a Wednesday night win over Nebraska and coach Greg McDermott says his team needs the game to be played at a slower pace and control the tempo to play the game they way his team wants it played.

McDermott says that’s hard because Kansas is good as forcing teams to play at their tempo. McDermott says the Jayhawks showed how good they can be in Wednesday’s 30-point blowout of Oklahoma State. McDermott says his team played Ohio State and he thinks Kansas is even better than the Buckeyes.

Kansas coach Bill Self says he has been impressed by the Cyclones. Self says the Cyclones have been one of the more pleasant surprises in the league. Self says McDermott has proven himself as a good coach and he says Hilton Coliseum has been both good and not good to the Jayhawks.

Self says the Jayhawks are practicing better and that has shown in the games as of late. He says the second unit has done a better job of making it tough on the first unit in practice.