Deonte Burton was in familiar territory.

With less than 90 seconds left in the game on Saturday afternoon, the Cyclones led No. 9 Baylor by just one point. It was reminiscent of the many times this season where Iowa State came up just short of a big win in the final seconds of the game.

Not this time.

Burton caught a pass at the top of the key from point guard Monté Morris. Instantly, the senior looked up and fired over the out-stretched arm of 7-footer Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

It bounced off the glass and through the hoop — just like he had planned. Or maybe not. 

“The bank was open,” Burton said.

That shot gave Iowa State (19-9, 11-5) the final push it needed to upend Baylor (23-6, 10-6) 72-69 and give it its fifth straight win in a critical time of the conference season.

Had it not been for Burton’s 3 — and his 19 other points — a win likely wouldn’t have happened.

“He hit that backboard shot. It was just crazy. I couldn’t believe it,” Baylor’s Jonathan Motley said. “That’s how stuff happens. We let him get hot in the first half. Once you get hot as a basketball player, anything can drop. You feel like anything can drop. That’s just the way the game of basketball works.”

Baylor, though, dominated the game inside the paint. The Bears out-rebounded Iowa State 37-17, and had 20 offensive rebounds and 26 second-chance points. With Lual-Acuil Jr. and Motley, who is 6 foot 10, inside, it’s tough to win the battle on the glass.

Winning the rebounding battle has been a constant struggle for Iowa State all season, and coach Steve Prohm knows that.

“We’re just small. We are what we are,” Prohm said. “That’s why I’m proud of these guys for being tough enough to figure out ways to win… The three-point line helps. We only turned it over five times. That helps. Then we shot almost 60 percent from the field. That’s the only way we have a chance, because if we’re going to give them extra possessions by getting offensive rebounds, we can’t lose possessions by turning it over.

“That’s the only explanation that you can probably really look at. It’s just hard to win giving up minus-20 against a team like that.”

Iowa State did find other ways to win. Morris dropped 17 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Solomon Young put up 11. Naz Mitrou-Long added 10.

As a team, Iowa State shot 57.8 percent from the field, and 53.3 percent from behind the arc. The Cyclones also forced 11 turnovers, in which they added 15 points.

The accumulation of those stats, along with Burton’s big day, was enough to push Iowa State over the hump and give it its sixth win in the month of February.

And with just two games left in the season before the Big 12 Championship, Morris said it couldn’t be happening at a better time.

“This team is peaking in the best time of the year, and that’s moving into March,” Morris said. “If I had to pick, this would be the time I want to get hot, as opposed to early in the year. I’m just fortunate enough to have this team.”

With the win, Iowa State now is tied with No. 12 West Virginia in second place in the Big 12 standings, and will likely make its return to the AP Top 25 poll after an 11-week absence.

And while they’ll face a tough test when they host Oklahoma State — which has also won five straight — on Tuesday, Prohm said he has noticed a big change in his team.

And that’s come seemingly at the right moment.

“The energy is just different now. I think they’re focused,” Prohm said. “Their belief, at some point you’ve got to win to get the belief, to get the buy in. I think we’ve done that… I think we’re locked in so much more and understanding what’s at stake right now. That’s the biggest difference.”