Iowa State head coach TJ Otzelberger applauds ‘6th starter’ for filling in for Joshua Jefferson

Iowa State keeps on dancing. After an 82-73 victory over Kentucky, Iowa State is moving on to the Sweet 16. Joshua Jefferson missed the game due to an ankle injury, but Iowa State kept rolling with his replacement.

After the game, head coach TJ Otzelberger spoke about missing Jefferson and the play of Nate Heise, per Jeff Frummond of On3Sports.

“Nate Heise has been like a “6th starter” all year long. Fierce competitor on defense, getting rebounds, making plays. You can feel him on every possession. Offensively, he stepped up and gave us exactly what we needed. We have tremendous belief and confidence in him,” Otzelberger was quoted as saying.

Heise averaged 24.3 minutes of playing time this year, while scoring 5.2 points with four rebounds and 1.7 assists, all coming off the bench.  In the game with Kentucky, he scored 12 points while adding two rebounds and three assists. Heise may be seeing more time in the tournament, according to Otzelberger’s postgame comments, per Will Kennedy of the Des Moines Register.

“He (Jefferson) has a MRI scheduled for (Monday) at 11 a.m., so we’ll see how that goes,” Otzelberger told reporters during the postgame press conference.

If Jefferson cannot return, it will be Heise again. It would still be a huge blow to the Cyclones. He averaged 16.4 points per game while adding in 7.4 rebounds per game and 4.8 assists. He also had not missed a game until he was injured in the game against Tennessee State.

The Cyclones await the winner of Virginia and Tennessee in the Sweet 16. Tennessee currently leads in the first half of the game.

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