Nate Heise says Iowa State ‘identified’ possibility Kentucky would give up during NCAA Tourney game

For a while on Sunday, it seemed like the 7-seed Kentucky Wildcats might be able to pull off the upset against the 2-seed Iowa State Cyclones.

The Wildcats not only led for most of the first half (by as much as 12 points), but they also outshot Iowa State from the field, hitting just as many three-pointers as their opponent.

However, the Cyclones clamped down defensively in the second half, garnering 20 turnovers and outscoring the Wildcats 51-33, pulling away easily for an 82-63 victory to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Nate Heise, who got the start in Joshua Jefferson’s place, scored 12 points to help the Cyclones (29-7) advance. After the game, Heise told reporters that Iowa State had a sense before the game that they might be able to break Kentucky’s spirit if they played the kind of defensive game they thought they could.

Nate Heise said Iowa State identified the chance of Kentucky lying down if the Cyclones took a big lead. ISU outscored UK 51-33 in the second half and forced 20 total turnovers.

“When you get them to that point, it’s like ‘Let’s just be done.’ I think that’s their mindset.” pic.twitter.com/doI6KPlHNk

— Alec Busse (@alec_busse) March 22, 2026

“That’s something that we kinda identified before the game, the potential for them to do that,” Heise said of the chances UK might lay down if ISU took a big lead. “The way that we just turned them over, and played our defense to where it didn’t look like they could do anything else. When you get them to that point, it’s like ‘Let’s just be done.’ I think that’s their mindset.”

A brutal admission about an opponent, but one that the results seemed to back up, unfortunately for Kentucky.

Heise added that Iowa State takes a certain pleasure in watching offenses fall apart against its stingy defense, as they did on Sunday.

“It’s when they start throwing their hands up or just looking around, like ‘What am I supposed to do?’ That’s when there’s a lot of timeouts being called,” he told reporters. “Today, all of those happened, so it was really fun being out there, and it’s even more fun when the other team does that.”

As for how far that defense can take the Cyclones, Heise believes no offense can beat them if they play to the best of their abilities.

“When our defense is doing that, and forcing turnovers and finishing on the glass, there’s not really an offense that can beat it, I don’t think,” Heise added. “So as long as we continue to do that, I can see us going all the way.”