After snapping a four-game losing streak Tuesday against the TCU Horned Frogs, the formula remains clear for T.J. Otzelberger and his players.

Bad offense can be overcome with great defense.

The Cyclones hadn’t won in Fort Worth since 2016, and things were certainly tense at times in the second half against TCU. Caleb Grill, who missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 seconds left to keep the TCU deficit at one, knew the importance of pulling out that victory.

“I think it showed that we can win even when we aren’t playing great offensively,” Grill said when asked about the win at TCU. “The score was in the 50’s… mentally, I thought I may have lost us that game [after] missing that free throw.”

The Cyclones shot 38 percent from the field and made five of their 14 threes. But it was just enough to pick up a road win in the Big 12, and Grill believes that’s what mattered most.

Now, they turn their attention to a team in Oklahoma that ran away with the game in Norman on Jan. 8.

The Sooners used a 19-2 run spanning over seven minutes in the second half to put the Cyclones away for good.

For about 30 of the 40 minutes played in their first meeting in Oklahoma, Grill feels they were the better team. The key to winning Saturday, in his eyes, is putting it together for all 40 minutes.

“We dominated for the first three-fourths of the game… we just have to continue to do what we did for the first 30 minutes for a full 40 minutes and I think we’ll be alright,” Grill said.

The Cyclones were up by 10 with just over 14 minutes to go before the collapse. A major key to that was freshman point guard Tyrese Hunter.

Hunter had 16 points at that point in the game on seven of 13 shooting. He also made two of his three attempts from three-point range and added four steals in what was his first true offensive explosion in Big 12 play.

When asked what Hunter believes will be important in replicating that effort, his answer was one Iowa State has preached all year long: aggression.

“Just being aggressive,” Hunter said. “I feel like, when I’m the aggressor, things go my way. I can’t let guys knock me off track from what I’m doing.”

Hunter finished with 20 points, his largest scoring output to date at that time. He has only bested that number in one game since, when he put up 22 points at West Virginia on Feb. 8.

As a team, the Cyclones find themselves tied for eighth place in the Big 12 with the Sooner team they welcome to Hilton Coliseum Saturday.

Oklahoma is coming off two consecutive losses by a combined four points to Kansas and Texas. Before that, they notched a 15-point victory over Texas Tech in Norman on Feb. 9.

The winning way for Otzelberger and his team since the season opener has been aggression. With five regular season games left, they’ll now make an aggressive push towards March with hopes of playing in the NCAA tournament.

For a team that was unanimously picked to finish last in the Big 12, aspirations of meaningful March basketball may have been minimal. But the Cyclones now find themselves in control of their own destiny: if they can stack up wins, they’ll be in the big dance.

Otzelberger understands the magnitude of an accomplishment like the NCAA tournament, but also realizes it’s more about the day-to-day, and not letting your mind wander with dreams of being an NCAA tournament team.

“Yes, we want to win every game that we have left, and we know how cool it is to be playing in the NCAA tournament, it’s awesome and there’s nothing like it,” Otzelberger said. “At the same time, my job and our focus is for our guys to just stay on the next possession and what’s in front of us and if we can continue to do that over the next few weeks, we feel confident about how things will play out.”

What’s currently in front of the Cyclones is a chance to pick up a split with the Sooners. Iowa State has lost five straight to Oklahoma, their last win coming on Jan. 11 of 2020.

The game is set to tip off at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. The game can be seen on Big 12 Now in ESPN+.