— ’s an experienced navigator. He recently surpassed the 1,000 career points mark, and while the vast majority of those came at Northern Iowa, the key senior reserve for No. 8 Iowa State’s coming into his own again on the offensive end of the floor.
He’s aggressive. He’s confident. And he knows production tends to ebb and flow over the course of a 30-plus game season.
“I’ve been in college long enough to know that it goes up and down,” said Heise, who scored a Cyclone career-high 11 points in Tuesday’s 79-65 win over Colorado at Hilton Coliseum. “So just sticking with it.”
Heise’s been heating up from inside and outside the 3-point line in the past three games, sinking nine of his last 14 shots (64.3 percent) while going 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Tuesday, he drilled his first of two 3-pointers to help ISU (21-5, 11-4) surge to a 20-5 lead and he also was one of four Cyclones with multiple steals. Heise also sprinkled in four rebounds and two assists while continuing to excel on defense.
“(He) plays hard, competitive,” said ISU head coach , whose team beat the Buffaloes (10-16, 1-14) for the third time this season. “I feel like if he just stays in his space of, ‘Hey, when I’m open I’m gonna shoot it, if I have an angle, I’m gonna drive it, If I’m guarded, I’m gonna pass it.’ He’s doing that more, so he’s not getting caught up in overthinking it.”
The Cyclones forced Colorado to play catch-up all but 20 seconds of the game — and led by as many as 24 points in the second half. ISU matched a Big 12 season-high with 19 assists on 24 made baskets, and its ball movement looked as crisp as it has all season.
“Yeah, it was terrific,” said Otzelberger, whose team won its fourth straight game and moved into a tie for third in the conference standings. “I think our guys really played for one another. I think the ball was on the move. I thought we got great shots, (and) the times we didn’t we put ourselves in challenging spots offensively. But I think our guys have the intent of wanting to make the play, now we’ve got to have better mental focus to understand what’s going on, and to make the simple play over and over, and not overcomplicate things, which we sometimes do.”
Transfer center and forward led five Cyclones in double figures with 13 points before fouling out. Fellow transfer big man added 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds, and fall-Big 12 point guard Tamin Lipsey also scored 12. Keshon Gilbert notched a game-best three steals.
“I think (the balance) is just a tribute to the work that we do every day,” said Jackson, who went 3-for-4 from the field and 7 of 10 from the foul line. “I think we can continue to get better so more guys can do that, but on any given night, anybody can go off on our team.”
Heise didn’t exactly “go off,” but his renewed aggressiveness on the offensive end is helping him showcase his versatility. His defensive effort’s remained constant. Now the scoring is coming along as expected — so it’s better last than never in that regard.
“He can make shots, he can make plays off the bounce,” Otzelberger said. “So it’s great to see him play to his ability level because I feel like what we recruited him to do is how he played tonight. I’m glad his confidence is where it needs to be. He works really hard for it and we’re gonna continue to lean into him playing well as we move forward.”
