Nate Heise's production is "oxygen" for No. 7 Iowa State heading into rematch with Baylor

AMES — He’s Iowa State’s defensive captain. He can rebound at an elite level from the guard position, and sets a tone on both ends of the floor with his toughness.

Oh, and Nate Heise can definitely shoot it, too — even as the team-first senior often selflessly shuns his own open looks to find teammates, which can be both an asset and a fault.

“I love Nate Heise,” said Cyclone head coach T.J. Otzelberger, whose No. 7 team (20-2, 7-2) faces Baylor (13-9, 3-7) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. “Like, I love him. I love the relationship that we have. I love how he plays. I love what he’s about as a person. I love Nate Heise.

But?

“(He’s) gonna consistently hear from me, ‘Score the ball,’” Otzelberger said. “‘Make the aggressive play. Score the ball. Make the aggressive play.’ That mindset, when it takes over for him, he elevates us to such a high level. So, like I said, whether it’s the calendar turning to February, whether it’s this turning to that, he’s gonna hear the same thing.”

Speaking of February — and late January and March, for that matter, Heise tends to be at his best when the season’s shortened and the most pivotal games loom.

Last season, his five-highest scoring games came in the final five weeks. Lately, Heise’s put together his best two-game stretch of the season by averaging 9.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists. The Cyclones have won four straight games, and whether Heise’s showing up much on the stat sheet or not, his imprint is on each of those victories.

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“It’s always good to hear a coach say, ‘Score the ball,’ ” Heise said. “ ‘Shoot, shoot, shoot.’ That’s just kind of what (Otzelberger’s) been saying the last couple weeks and that’s beneficial to me, just knowing that we need that as a team to be successful. I think that’s the biggest thing, is staying aggressive. Staying (with) the mentality of just shooting.”

Heise serves as one of many X-factors for ISU as opponents seek to curtail the production of standout forwards Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic, as well as ultra-efficient point guard Tamin Lipsey, who form the team’s “big three.” All three are top-10 finalists on award watchlists for their respective positions, and all three generally lead the Cyclones in scoring, rebounding and/or assists in every game.

So while they rightfully dominate the foe’s scouting report, players such as Heise, along with freshmen guards Killyan Toure and Jamarion Batemon, enjoy more room to roam and attack, which helps explain how ISU has won three of the past four games by 30-plus points.

“You hope that every game you can just click like that and you can win by 30, but that’s unlikely,” said Lipsey, who’s averaging a career-best 5.5 assists and a career-low 1.1 turnovers this season. “We’re gonna have ups and downs and bumps in the road, but how we’re playing right now is — we’re on such a high. We’re just trying to ride that and continue to stay confident and feed off each other.”

Especially Heise, who’s hitting his offensive stride, as usual, at the must crucial time.

“I want him to feel far more like that’s the oxygen our team needs to breathe than it’s an extra benefit,” Otzelberger said. “It’s something we have to have. It’s necessary. It has to show up every possession. So I love him. Like I said, I love everything about Nate. Nate needs to continue to step up.”

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