AMES – As Iowa State junior forward Joshua Jefferson went down the floor for a late offensive possession, he knew the confidence in his ability to score was there.

Up until that point with less than two minutes to go, Jefferson had already scored 27 points, which was both a season and a career high. But he wanted more.

Right at the top of the key, Jefferson pulled up and drained his third 3-pointer of the game. For the first time in his career, he had scored 30 points.

“Nothing really what I did,” Jefferson said. “Just give all the praise to my teammates just to put me in the right positions to score.”

Behind that dominant 30-point performance from Jefferson, No. 3 Iowa State blew past UCF in a 108-83 win Tuesday. It now puts the Cyclones at 16-2 overall and up to 6-1 in the Big 12.

Jefferson was the go-to guy inside and out, and it showed. Not only did he best his season-high point total, he also set a career high, his previous being 21 against San Francisco last season when he was at Saint Mary’s.

“On a daily basis, [Jefferson] is a tremendous worker,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “He’s a mismatch guy that in space when he has room to operate, he’s really tough to guard one-on-one.”

The effort for Jefferson happened on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor, and he was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. When he battled inside, Jefferson forced UCF into fouls. From the charity stripe, Jefferson was 9-for-12, which led the team.

Along with his big point total, Jefferson added seven rebounds, five assists, a team-high four steals and a block in the effort. Iowa State as a whole had 16 steals, which tied for its season high and is now the most against a Big 12 opponent this season.

“We’re seeing with every game how he’s continuing to impact winning in different ways,” Otzelberger said. “He does so many winning things.”

Jefferson got the crowd on its feet with an electric sequence with around eight minutes to go in the game. A coast-to-coast dunk after a steal was how he made it happen.

“We take pride on the defensive side of the ball,” Jefferson said. “In transition, we’re really dangerous downhill.”

One possession later, Jefferson dished the ball out to senior guard Nate Heise, who proceeded to drain a 3-pointer. It was his first-made 3 in nearly a month.

That versatility doesn’t go unnoticed amongst his teammates.

“He’s really just got the whole package on offense as a big man,” senior guard Curtis Jones said.

Jones finished his night with 19 points on 8-for-19 shooting. Outside, Jones connected on two of his seven 3-point attempts.

Fellow senior guard Keshon Gilbert followed Jefferson in scoring with 21. Gilbert did it on 10-for-15 shooting and made one of his four 3-point attempts.

“If [Gilbert’s] one-on-one with you going to the rim, we like his chances at scoring way more times than not,” Jones said.

It was one of Gilbert’s defensive rebounds that led to Jefferson’s 3-point shot which got him to that 30-point threshold.