Iowa State Cyclones' Role Players Step Up To Help Overcome Tamin Lipsey Absence

The Iowa State Cyclones received much-needed excellent performances with Tamin Lipsey out against the Creighton Bluejays.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones were able to pick up an impressive victory in their first game of the Players Era Festival, defeating the St. John’s Red Storm 83-82. However, the victory came at a cost.

Star point guard Tamin Lipsey had to exit the game with about two minutes remaining with what was deemed a lower-body injury. The injury was bad enough that he was unable to suit up Tuesday afternoon for their matchup against the Creighton Bluejays.

This was somewhat of a revenge game for Iowa State. A few weeks ago, the two teams played an exhibition, and Creighton dominated throughout. This time around, it was the Cyclones who got the upper hand early and cruised to a win.

Iowa State went wire-to-wire, winning 78-60. It was an impressive all-around team performance without their star point guard, and two role players stood out in the performance: freshman Killyan Toure and sixth-year senior Nate Heise.

Killyan Toure playing like multi-year vet as freshman

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Toure is way ahead of schedule. An international player who attended Brewster Academy last year, he has the poise of a multi-year veteran.

A surprise addition to the starting five alongside Lipsey, he is learning a lot from his senior mentor. In just a few short weeks, he has grown immensely, drawing praise from his head coach, T.J. Otzelberger.

“I thought he did a great job. And I think for him, the ball screen coverage, his ability to get in the paint, make plays. He hits a big three early. His on-ball defense is phenomenal. He's a factor on the glass finishing. He played with great poise down the stretch, too. I mean, just how he commanded the game,” the head coach said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network.

KT Putting on a Show.#Cyclones | #C5C | @killyan_toure pic.twitter.com/Es3fUnozVW

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) November 25, 2025

Toure was incredible against the Bluejays on Tuesday afternoon. He scored a career-high 20 points with four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. Anyone who questioned why he received a starting spot has quickly learned why.

Joining him in the backcourt against Creighton was Heise, who also started in the exhibition game. But things were much different this time around.

Nate Heise has huge performance stepping in for Tamin Lipsey

Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

He played nearly the entire game, logging 39 minutes and stuffing the stat sheet. Heise scored eight points with five rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block.

“He had some tremendous cuts, some passes, just did so many winning things out there. And I think people always look at the stat line and want to try to equate how many points did you have to how much did you impact winning. And you can multiply whatever stats Nate Heisee had by three if you want to know how much he impacted winning,” Otzelberger said of his sixth-year senior.

It's a 9-0 run for @CycloneMBB 🌀 pic.twitter.com/lVwuxnayps

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 25, 2025

Having a player of Heise’s caliber is a luxury not every team has. He is someone that Otzelberger views as a sixth starter, capable of filling a number of roles for the squad as the ultimate glue guy.

In the first four games of the season, he was the team’s sixth man. Against the Bluejays, he stepped right into the large void created by Lipsey’s absence and performed at a high level.

Role players producing this much will only help the Cyclones down the road achieve their lofty goals.