AMES - Minutes after Drake dismantled his Iowa State basketball team, Greg McDermott signaled that he was ready to move on.

Vowing not watch tape of Wednesday's 35-point loss "as long as I live," the Cyclones coach figures he has better ways to spend his time.

"Life's full of things like this. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes, there aren't many answers for it," McDermott said. "Sometimes, you've just got to dig deep and find out who we are and what we want to stand for, get up the next morning and go to work at it. That's our plan."

Being able to quickly turn the focus to another instate opponent, Iowa, hasn't hurt.

The Cyclones take the court at Hilton Coliseum today needing a win in the 1 p.m. game against the Hawkeyes to avoid being swept by their three instate rivals for the second season in a row.

"It's been hard for us as a team, having to go through adversity and play through some tough times," ISU forward Rahshon Clark said. "As a team, we just have to stick together and if we can do that, we'll give ourselves a chance to become the type of team we want to be."

That's what concerns Iowa coach Todd Lickliter, who also isn't putting a lot of stock in what he saw of Iowa State on tape from Wednesday's loss to the Bulldogs.

"There are just games like that sometimes," Lickliter said. "Drake executed well and shot it well, but I believe it is possible to get a false sense of what Iowa State is about if you look only at that one game. It was just one of those nights for them."

Lickliter does see similarities between the Cyclones (3-4) and Hawkeyes (6-4).

Both have had to cope with unexpected early-season health issues which have led to inconsistent play by both clubs.

The Cyclones' top three returning players - Wesley Johnson, Jiri Hubalek and Clark - have all missed playing time since the start of the season.

Hubalek is back after breaking a bone in his foot, while Clark has dealt with a knee problem much of the season.

Johnson missed the team's first four games and has limped through its last three because of a stubborn bone bruise on the top of his left foot.

Lateral movement has been a struggle for the 6-foot-7 sophomore who was expected to be the focal point of the ISU attack this season.

McDermott has said if the situation does not improve before the Cyclones leave for the Las Vegas Classic in two weeks that Johnson will likely apply for a medical redshirt year.

"The foot isn't responding the way we had hoped," McDermott said. "When I watched tape of our game at Oregon State, you could see how limited he is. He would grimace when he tried to push off on it or jump on it.

"He's not close to being the same player he was a year ago and it's probably going to be some time before he gets back to that. Our need is to get production out of other areas and right now, we're not."

Iowa's health situation is improving.

Tony Freeman played 24 minutes in Wednesday's win at Northern Iowa and had no issues with the broken bone in his left foot during a light workout Thursday.

"He was able to get around on it and move," Lickliter said. "I think he'll be good to go."

The Hawkeyes also expect freshman guard Jeff Peterson to return after missing the UNI game to attend the funeral of his grandfather.

Guard Dan Bohall, who did not make the trip to Cedar Falls after pleading guilty to public intoxication charges, will not travel to Iowa State, Lickliter said Friday.

Freeman's return has added another ball handler to the Hawkeye lineup and Lickliter is anxious to see if his team can build on the effort which led to a 62-55 win at Northern Iowa.

"We saw more consistency than we have seen so far this season in that game. It was a good outing," Lickliter said. "The hope would be that we could carry that over and build on it."

He's not sure that will be easy.

"Iowa State's players complement one another very well, much like coach McDermott's teams did while he was at UNI," Lickliter said. "I suspect we'll see a different Iowa State team from the one that played at Drake."

McDermott is counting on that.

"I can't imagine how it could get any worse," he said.

Contact Steve Batterson at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com