PETE: Iowa State’s win at Texas Tech Saturday was a T.J. Otzelberger all-timer

To be perfectly clear, Iowa State’s success at Texas Tech Saturday could end up being the Cyclones’ most significant this regular season – and a Top Ten among T. J. Otzelberger’s 119 wins, since taking over a woeful program in 2021.

That’s right, it was an all-timer primarily because the 85-84 overtime victory showed that this team is so elite, that no matter how mediocre it plays at times – and believe me, there was some mediocrity Saturday in Lubbock – it still has the ability to make championship plays when needed.

Iowa State led this extended 45-minute game a total of just 99 seconds. Read that again – the Cyclones led for just a minute-and-a-half, at crazy-loud arena that been an Iowa State Achilles Heel the past few seasons.

And still won.

That’s an uncharted court for this 14-1, second-ranked team that’s 4-0 in the Big 12. Iowa State led for 33 ½ minutes against Utah, for 39 minutes in beating Baylor, and for 31 minutes against Colorado.

In other words, the Cyclones needed a game like what happened down in Lubbock, Texas.

Trailing by 13 points with 6 minutes to play in the first half – and in an arena where Iowa State hasn’t won since four meetings ago?

No problem.

I’ve been saying this all throughout the Cyclones’ season – long before they once again proved on Saturday, that:

Otzelberger’s fourth Iowa State team is so good, that he can push a button, and suddenly his guys kick it into a higher gear, make great plays – and then scrap, claw and play with so much determination, that they’re among most well-rounded and entertaining teams in college basketball.

We’ve seen it before, and we saw it again against a gritty bunch of Red Raiders. The Cyclones played just well enough to trail by 7 or so points for a lot of the game – then with a few minutes remaining in regulation, Otzelberger pushed his magic button.

What was going wrong, started going right. Oh-fer-five from 3-point range while trailing in the first half, became 6-for-11 the rest of the game (including the overtime). Miserable 6-of-11 free-throw shooting in the first half, turned into much better 17-for-24 the rest of the game.

Get the point?

Once again, this team with the 11-game winning streak is so crazy good, that it can (and has) transformed so-so, into championship-caliber plays, like . . .

Joshua Jefferson’s buzzer beater (after refs put .5 seconds back on the clock) on a length of the court inbounds play that started with Keshon Gilbert inbounding under the Texas Tech basket, and included quick passes to Milan Momcilovic, and to Tamin Lipsey, whose underhand toss to Jefferson in the lane resulted in the basket that sent the game into overtime.

See button. Push button.

Like when Jefferson’s two free throws put Iowa State up by the final score with 4.1 seconds remaining in the OT.

Like turning a 31-18 deficit after the game’s first 14 minutes, into a one-point Big 12 victory on the road.

See button. Push button.

And now . . .

It’s time for a little Iowa State-Kansas basketball history lesson – the facts, the amazing, and the characters that make up one of the most intense rivalries in all of college basketball, but first this:

For the first time at Hilton Coliseum since the 2013-14 season, Iowa

State is the higher-ranked team in this battle of Big 12 rivals that starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum.

Expect physicality. Coaches (one moreso than the other) hollering at refs? That’s a Cyclone-Jayhawk requirement. Technical fouls? Let’s start the over-under at 2 ½. Students (and they haven’t even started the spring semester yet) will camp overnight in tents outside Hilton Coliseum.

And oh by the way, this could be one of the most well-played games we’ll see all season – assuming Otzelberger’s play-well button is stuck on go.

Both teams are NCAA Tournament regulars. Both are among the most well-coached in the Big 12. Both teams have players good enough to be the conference’s postseason MVP.

And it’s the first of two Iowa State-Kansas meetings during this Cyclones eight-game stretch – which started with Saturday’s win at Texas Tech – that will define Iowa State’s regular season.

We think we’ve seen all we could ever see in this intense rivalry, but, but have we?

We’ve already seen:

** Georges Niang end up with an eye so bloodied, that he was taken off the court with 1:23 to play in the 2014 Big 12 tournament.

** Some members of the officiating crew mess up the 2013 game in Ames so egregiously, that they were publicly reprimanded by the Big 12 Conference. They were so caught up in the crowd, the controversy and the emotion of the 108-96 Kansas win, that they allowed Jayhawks 7-footer Jeff Withey to play the last 30 seconds with five fouls, after a teammate duped refs into thinking a foul was on him, not Withey.

This time, the Big 12, then under the leadership of Bob Bowlsby came out with a day-later statement that said: "Officiating errors were made at the end of regulation. Plays have been reviewed and appropriate measures will be taken by the Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officials to adjust the number of future assignments for the two officials involved, in conjunction with Conference policies."

** The 2001 game at Kansas, in which Cyclone Kantrail Horton made a bailout, 35-foot, 3-point shot in Iowa State’s 79-77 win.

As sure as Otzelberger giving Kansas coach Bill Self a pre-game bro-tap to the chest, stuff will happen inside what’s sure to be a lively Hilton Coliseum Wednesday night.

(Randy Peterson can be reached at randypete4846@gmail.com or at any Okoboji-area beverage/food establishment between the hours of open and close)