AMES, Iowa — Nate Hayes scored the go-ahead 3-pointer and Tammin Lipsey made a crucial offensive rebound in the final seconds to cap No. 6 Iowa State’s run with a 70-67 win over Big 12 Conference leader and No. 2 Houston on Monday night.
Heise was 3-for-3 from 3-point range hours after his sister, Taylor Heise, scored to help the U.S. women’s hockey team beat Sweden 5-0 to reach the gold medal game at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
“Of all the games he played as a Cyclone, tonight stands out as the most special,” Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger said of Hayes. “The confidence with which he plays is amazing.”
The Hurricanes (23-3, 10-3) closed out a 17-4 run to knock off the team’s second top-10 finish in three days. Iowa State fell to No. 8 Kansas 74-56 at home on Saturday.
Houston’s (23-3, 11-2) six-game winning streak is over, and the Cougars’ conference lead is cut to a half-game over No. 4 Arizona heading into Saturday’s game at Houston. Iowa State is third in the Big 12, one game behind Houston.
Heise hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:17 to play to give the Cyclones a 69-67 lead. Houston had two chances to tie or take the lead, but the Cougars were called for a shot clock violation with 43 seconds left and Chris Cenak Jr. missed a shot with four seconds left.
“I really think it was one of the easiest things mentally, because you don’t have any other choice. You’re not going to be able to pass the ball; there’s not enough time,” Hayes said of his preparation for the winner. “So, when you have no other choice and it’s just kind of muscle memory, you just know how much time you have and what you have to do.
“It was really the only option.”
Heise was asked about his family’s text message thread, given his sister’s accomplishments in Team USA’s win.
“It’s going to be fun because I think they went to sleep before the game (at Iowa State) started, so they’ll wake up to some fun text messages,” he said. “Obviously it was great earlier when I scored a goal and they won and qualified for the tournament. So, a very good day.”
Blake Buchanan was fouled after Cenac’s foul shot rebounded but missed on the front end of a one-and-one. Lipsey was able to grab the offensive rebound and gave the ball back to Joshua Jefferson, who was fouled with one second left. Jefferson made his first free throw on the final margin.
Jefferson led Iowa State with 12 points. Hayes scored 11 points and Buchanan 10 points.
“Iowa State is good,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “It’s not an easy place to come in and win. I’m disappointed we didn’t win. I’m not disappointed in our efforts.”
Kingston Flemings led Houston with 22 points. Emmanuel Sharp scored 16 points, all in the first half. Milos Ozan scored 11 points.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
