Ames, Iowa ? Wayne Simien didn’t learn anything new about the status of his injured shoulder after meeting with doctors Saturday night.

Kansas University’s sophomore forward, who dislocated his right shoulder in Saturday’s 100-46 rout of UMKC, will be re-evaluated in a week while continuing to undergo treatment, KU coach Roy Williams said Sunday.

Simien made the four-hour bus trip with his teammates to Ames, Iowa, on Sunday night. The Jayhawks will face Iowa State in their Big 12 Conference opener at 8:05 tonight at Hilton Coliseum.

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Road warriors: More often than not, Kansas opens conference play in unfriendly buildings.

“It’s strange. It seems every year we start the conference season on the road,” Williams said. “At least this year it’s not two on the road.”

KU, which has won 11 straight league openers, has opened on the road four straight seasons, winning twice at Colorado, at Texas Tech and at Baylor.

The Jayhawks have opened on the road in 10 of Williams’ first 14 seasons. Five times KU has opened with back-to-back games on the road.

KU last lost a conference opener in 1991 — an 88-82 loss to Oklahoma. KU has won 13 of 14 league openers under Williams.

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Questionable schedule: Iowa State enters with a 10-1 record, the second best start in school history. The 2000-01 Cyclones opened 13-1.

But ISU has played just two games against top-notch opponents, falling to Boston College, 85-78, on Dec. 10, in Ames, and beating Iowa, 73-69, on Dec. 13 in Iowa City.

The Cyclones — who have added three new starters in true freshman Adam Haluska (6-5, 12.4 ppg), plus junior college transfers Jackson Vroman (6-10, 13.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg) and Tim Barnes (6-0, 11.8 ppg), plus a key juco reserve in Chris Alexander (7-1, 13.5 ppg) — have beaten the likes of Coe College, Mercer, Jackson State, Western Illinois, SUNY-Binghamton, Savannah State, Drake, Northern Iowa and Arkansas-Pine-Bluff.

Wayne Simien is helped off the court by Kansas University trainer Mark Cairns. Simien injured his right shoulder in the first half of Saturday's 100-46 rout of UMKC.

“Would we be better off if we had played some tougher teams on the road going into the Kansas game? I don’t know,” ISU coach Larry Eustachy said. “Maybe it would have helped if we had gotten beat a couple of times.

“We haven’t played a very difficult schedule for a reason. We’ve gained some confidence, and now we can carry this over to conference play.”

The home crowd figures to help the Cyclones.

“We’ve had some big crowds where it’s been loud, but it’ll be at a whole different level when Kansas is here,” center Jared Homan told the Ames Tribune.

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Sullivan .500 versus KU: Junior guard Jake Sullivan, who averages a team-leading 18.7 points a game, is 2-2 versus KU.

“There’s not much you can say, it’s just when you get out there, it’s a whole different level,” Sullivan told the Ames Tribune. “You want to go after the big boys right away. It’s the way we get respect back in the program. Hey, if we can win the next four (KU, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri), we’re top 10.”