Nate Heise is making the most of his sixth season of college basketball. If nothing else, he’s got a pretty big fan in Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger.
Ahead of Saturday’s home bout with Baylor, Otzelberger shared his continued message for the second-year Cyclone and former Northern Iowa guard: “Score the ball.”
“I love Heise,” Otzelberger said. “I love the relationship that we have, I love how he plays, I love what he’s about as a person… (Heise) is going to consistently hear from me, ‘Score the ball. Make the aggressive play. Score the ball.’ That mindset, when it takes over for him, he elevates us to such a higher level. Whether it’s the calendar turning the February, whether it’s this turn or that, from me, he’s going to hear the same thing.”
It’s hardly the first time Heise has been the subject of Otz’ praise.
Heise flirted with his season-high scoring total with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists at Kansas State last weekend. It’s the sixth time Heise has provided seven or more bench points for Iowa State, No. 7 in the latest AP Poll, this season; For what it’s worth, the Cyclones are 11-2 when Heise sees the floor for 20-plus minutes this season.
Averaging 25 minutes over Iowa State’s last two games, Heise has played a part in Iowa State’s active four-game winning streak. Last year, Heise averaged just 21.7 minutes per game, but found the rim at the same rate of 5.1 points per game.
A native of Lake City, Minnesota, Heise led UNI in scoring (13.5 ppg) as a senior before portaling to Iowa State with two years of eligibility thanks to a COVID year and a season-ending injury during his junior season in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Up next, the Cyclones get two winnable contests with the Bears this weekend and TCU next Tuesday, Feb. 10, before a likely top-15 matchup against Kansas next Saturday, Feb. 14.
