Nate Heise ‘is really driving’ a midseason surge for UNI men’s basketball

CEDAR FALLS — After a slow start to its season, the Northern Iowa men’s basketball team has played like the team its Missouri Valley Conference peers anticipated over the past month.

Picked second in the MVC’s preseason poll, the Panthers (10-8, 4-3) have won seven of their last eight games dating back to Dec. 12.

Most recently — and perhaps most impressive — was UNI’s 83-72 win at Belmont on Wednesday night. A win that made for a 2-0 southern road trip that included Murray State.

Improved defense and arguably the two best games of Nate Heise’s career highlighted the Panthers’ unblemished southern swing.

In the win against the Racers, Heise finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. In the win against the Bruins, he flirted even more with a triple-double, scoring 20 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out eight assists.

“He was terrific (against Murray State) and he made some better plays (against Belmont),” UNI Coach Ben Jacobson said of Heise. “His will, his confidence, the mentality that he’s playing with is really driving us in a lot of ways. And that rubs off on your teammates. When we run (plays) for him he’s not running it with his mind made up — I’m going to shoot or I’m going to pass — he’s running it as a player and he’s a hell of a player.”

UNI’s defensive improvement

When it comes to UNI’s improving defense, there were numerous instances of Jacobson describing earlier this season how his team simply needed to guard the ball better. Once that began to happen early in the streak, the next steps of improvement have included much better rotations and more toughness.

“It really builds your confidence when you play that hard, when you’re that physical, when you work that hard defensively,” Jacobson said. “Our togetherness at the defensive end has just changed a ton in the last two or three weeks and that’s been fun to watch, fun to be a part of.”

Jacobson also pointed out how an ad-libbed in-bounds play in the win against Belmont told him his team isn’t just player tougher.

“They were in zone on this out-of-bounds play and Nate just yelled at Cole (Henry), ‘hey Cole, pop here,’ he gets it (and passes) back, (Nate) makes a 3,” Jacobson said. “They’re playing harder and I think they’re a little bit looser. Which, what a combination.”

Up next: Southern Illinois

UNI hosts Southern Illinois (12-6, 4-3) Saturday at 7 p.m. and will be tested by the Salukis’ top-ranked defense in the MVC.

“The physicality of how they play on both ends of the floor, you got to be ready for,” UNI associate head coach PJ Hogan said. “It’s a little bit of a different mindset in terms of how a team plays, so you have to get ready for that a little bit.”

Saturday night’s game also comes with history on the line. After Wednesday’s win at Belmont, Jacobson tied former Oklahoma State coach Henry Iba for the most wins (187) in MVC history. Jacobson would break a record that has stood for 68 years with a win Saturday.

“It means a ton to me in terms of our program,” Jacobson said. “We do this for our guys and we do this for our program, so it means a ton to have our school on the same line and be talked about in the same sentence for a little while. It means the world to me in terms of the players that have come through here and what they’ve put into this program and it means the world to me that they’ve got us in this position.”