Joshua Jefferson Accomplishes Something Not Done in Over 20 Years Against UCF Knights

Joshua Jefferson was a driving force in the Iowa State Cyclones dismantling of the UCF Knights.

Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (5) celebrates after win 87-57 over UCF in the Big-12 conference men’s basketball on Jan. 20, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa State Cyclones star Joshua Jefferson was coming under fire a little bit for his level of production during the team’s two-game losing streak.

Playing at a high level, he has put himself in line for plenty of accolades and awards this season with his performance. However, he didn’t play very well against the Kansas Jayhawks or Cincinnati Bearcats, contributing to the team losing for the first two times this season.

In those two games, he shot eight of 26 from the field and had only six assists compared to eight turnovers. The Cyclones needed him to get back on track when they returned to the court against the UCF Knights at Hilton Coliseum, and that is exactly what he did.

Jefferson stuffed the stat sheet, scoring an efficient 17 points on five of eight from the field. He wasn’t forcing anything, letting the game come to him and taking whatever the defense gave him, turning in a stellar all-around effort.

Joshua Jefferson stuffs stat sheet against UCF

Jan 20, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; UCF Knights forward Jordan Burks (99) falls down while defending Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (5) during the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

The Knights looked like they weren’t going to let him beat them, so he turned into a facilitator, handing out 12 assists without turning the ball over once. He added 10 rebounds, giving him his second triple-double of the campaign. Four steals and one block were added to round out his incredible stat line.

That performance put Jefferson in some rare company. As shared by OptaSTATS on X, this is the second time this season he has had 10+ points, 10+ rebounds, 10+ assists and 5+ STOCKS (steals + blocks) in a single game.

He is the first Division I player to accomplish that feat multiple times in a single season since Andre Iguodala with the Arizona Wildcats during the 2003-04 campaign.

There are certainly some similarities between how Jefferson plays now and how Iguodala dominated for the Wildcats 23 years ago before being selected No. 9 overall in the 2004 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tonight marked the second time this season Joshua Jefferson of @CycloneMBB had a game with:

10+ points
10+ rebounds
10+ assists
5+ stocks (steals + blocks)

He's the first Division I player to do that twice in one season since Arizona's Andre Iguodala in 2003-04. pic.twitter.com/fOByrrpldf

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) January 21, 2026

Both can operate as offensive hubs for their team, finding the right mix of shot-making and facilitating. They’re versatile defenders who cram the stat sheet on a nightly basis, making an impact on both ends of the floor.

Jefferson could not have picked a better time to break out of his mini-slump, helping Iowa State to a dominant 87-57 victory over UCF.

He is now averaging 17.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks in 31.4 minutes per game. If he keeps up that pace, he is going to receive a lot of recognition in the way of yearly awards when it is all said and done.