The Kansas Jayhawks (15) will begin what appears to be the toughest part of their schedule Monday night on the road against the Iowa State Cyclones (9).

Iowa State is the second of four consecutive matchups against ranked teams for Kansas and is also the first of two matchups between the two schools. Kansas also has two games scheduled with both Baylor (12) and Oklahoma State (9) and one more game against both Kansas State and Oklahoma (25).

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Kansas coach Bill Self said his team is beginning to play better and more consistently, which will be key as they play a tough two-month schedule.

"Playing a certain way with energy is contagious," Self told reporters, according to ESPN. "I think everybody is just playing with more energy now consistently than we probably have at any point in time this year. It's definitely getting better."

Kansas clicked on offense and defense against Kansas State, including big games from freshmen stars Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden Jr. Wiggins scored 22 and shot 7-13 from the field and 3-4 from beyond the arc. Selden scored 20 and shot 7-10 from the field and 3-5 from beyond the arc. The two combined to make eight of 11 attempted free throws. Kansas also held Kansas State to 60 points, their second-best total allowed all season.

What has to be most encouraging for Kansas is Wiggins shooting effectively from distance and becoming more aggressive on the inside. For Iowa State, Monday's matchup will be about recovering from their first loss of the season Saturday against Oklahoma without second-leading scorer DeAndre Kane.

"It looked like he was making a play to the basket, and I'm assuming that he stepped on one of their players' feet," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters, according to ESPN. "I'm guessing that's how he turned it."

Iowa State is averaging 87.6 points per game, sixth-best in the nation and Kansas is shooting .501 percent from the field as a team, also sixth-best. Monday's matchup will certainly be an offensive showdown.