January 4, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach TJ Otzelberger and guard Tamin Lipsey (center) and forward Joshua Jefferson (left) against the Baylor Bears in the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory attribution: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

AMES — Joshua Jefferson eyed the edge and cleared his head.

Iowa State’s fate rested in the capable hands of the transfer forward, who went for, exhaled and delivered to the free-throw line amid a deafening crowd roar at Texas Tech on Saturday.

“(We) just keep playing through the whole thing,” Jefferson said Cyclone Radio Network after his two free throws with 4.1 seconds left in overtime cemented the No. 3 Cyclones’ 85-84 victory over the Red Raiders. “Just keep fighting, fighting, fighting.”

Six of Jefferson’s 17 points came in overtime when he went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. ISU guard Curtis Jones scored a game-high 8 of 15 shots and a season-best 26 points. Jefferson added eight rebounds and Nate Heise grabbed a team-high nine boards off the bench, fueling the Cyclones’ 11th straight victory. ISU (14-1, 4-0 Big 12) trailed the Red Raiders (11-4, 2-2) by as many as 13 points but outscored them 51-40 in the second half and overtime.

“We just stay balanced and keep doing what we’re doing,” said Jones, who also won 7 of 8 at the finish line. “I have a lot of confidence in this team, even in those (tense) moments, just because we never lose our temper. We’re always straight to the next step.”

Texas Tech led 74-72 with six seconds left in regulation and called a timeout to get its defense in position. However, this move also benefited ISU, which led to Jefferson sinking a contested layup from a Tamin Lipsey Help with 0.2 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

“It’s a great play that our coaches came up with,” Jefferson said. “We practice it every day in practice and just come here and execute it. That’s why we take training so seriously – and (head coach) TJ (Otzelberger) expects that from us.”

Texas Tech entered the game with the third-best effective field goal shooting offense KenPombut only shot 42.4 percent overall and 35.7 percent in the second half. ISU outscored the Red Raiders 22-5, in fast break points and Keshon Gilbert (14 points) secured four steals along with Lipsey. The Cyclones improved to 3-0 on the road this season – trailing in the second half in each of those wins.

“It’s really hard to win here,” said Otzelberger, whose team was eliminated in four games at United Supermarkets Arena. “Proud of our boys for being resilient and staying together. It wasn’t perfect, but we found a way to hang in there and make just enough plays.”

ISU led for just 99 seconds Saturday, but took advantage of three missed free throws from Texas Tech’s best foul shooters to make key plays down the stretch and emerge victorious.

“We weathered that storm in the first half, had to weather it again in the second half, had to hang in there late into the night just to score enough to get to overtime,” Otzelberger said. “Kudos to our boys for playing one possession at a time. This place rocked. I felt like I could have taken eight timeouts and used them. … Just lucky that our guys stayed the course.”

Next: No. 11 Kansas, Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.

“(I expect) great audience participation again,” Jefferson said. “We will stand behind them because we will fight as hard as they support us and we love fighting for them.”