MANHATTAN, Kan. — There’s a YouTube viral video in which Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings is lauded for “putting the team on his back.”

On Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum — called by many the “Octagon of Doom” — senior guard Scott Christopherson put the ISU men’s basketball team on his proverbial back to the tune of 29 points and five rebounds in the Cyclones’ 65-61 win against Kansas State.

“It was unbelievable,” said forward Royce White, when asked about Christopherson’s game. “Personally, as far as games that I’ve seen in person, that I’ve been a part of in college and before that, it was one of the best performances I’ve seen. We don’t win the game without him.

“It shows a lot of maturity, a lot of hunger on his part, and we’re following his lead right now.”

Christopherson tied a season-high for points at 29 — one away from his career-high of 30 against Iowa last season — on 10-of-13 shooting overall and a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range, which ties a school record.

Ever the player to shy away from self-promotion, the senior credited his coach’s game plan and teammates for helping him have one of his best games of his season and career.

“We knew they were going to play a certain way,” Christopherson said. “Coach [Fred Hoiberg] put some plays in specifically for this game that we thought we could kind of take advantage of the way they chase screens.

“I was able to get some open looks. Got to credit my teammates for setting great screens. [White] was delivering the ball on time, and fortunately I was able to make the shots.”

Christopherson passed Hoiberg on the all-time ISU 3-pointers-made list on Saturday as well, bringing his career total to 187. He also passed 1,000 points as a Cyclone, after passing the mark for his career against Oklahoma, putting him at 27th on the all-time ISU scoring list.

Hoiberg credited the senior with being the leader of the team over Iowa State’s last several games, and also noted Christopherson’s effort to remove the “one-dimensional player” tag he’s been labeled with.

“He’s been phenomenal here these past couple weeks, just playing with so much confidence,” Hoiberg said. “Those little floaters and runners he was hitting in the lane, those are tough shots. It just shows how complete of a player he is.

“People kind of label him a one-dimensional kid, but he’s much more than that; his defense has grown as well.”

Christopherson’s leadership was tested early in the second half, as the Wildcats (19-9, 8-8 Big 12) took off on a 17-1 run on the Cyclones (21-8, 11-5) to begin the second half.

The post-halftime lull is nothing new to Iowa State, which has faced such runs on multiple occasions this season. Christopherson was bottled up primarily by Kansas State’s Angel Rodriguez, and it wasn’t until a 3-pointer from guard Chris Babb with 12:44 remaining that the Cyclones got going offensively.

After that, Iowa State was able to counteract the Wildcats’ physical play and retake the lead.

“We stayed the course,” Christopherson said. “[Kansas State] was one of the hottest teams in the country right now coming off two road wins. We knew we weren’t going to come in the building and they weren’t just going to fold.

“We knew they were going to make a run. We talked about it. We talked about how we needed to stay the course, stick to what the coaching staff put together coming into the game on both ends of the court. We were able to do that. … Fortunately, we were able to win the game.”

Though it was tested early in the second half, the senior’s leadership that White raved about after the game was shown with the game on the line.

With the game tied 61-61, Christopherson hit his fifth 3-pointer off a screen from Melvin Ejim that gave the Cyclones the lead for good.

“The last few games, we’ve been getting into some random pick-and-rolls late in transition, and Melvin did a great job of setting [the screen] low,” Christopherson said. “I’d felt good about my stroke the whole game. I just came up and there was enough space to just rise up and let it go.”

It was that play, along with several others in the contest, that backed up a point White made all the way back at media day, when he said Christopherson was the best player on the team.

White said the evidence is right there for everyone to see.

“I believe it wholeheartedly [that he’s the best on the team],” White said. “He plays so sound. When he gets it going, he’s really hard to stop. He’s really crafty, quick. There’s always a place for shooters in every game, and when he gets it going, he’s one of the toughest players to guard anywhere.”