After big game, forward may start for Texas basketball

In Tuesday’s 99-65 win over Rider, Texas basketball finally found its 3-point shot when Cam Heide buried six of his nine shots from behind the arc while scoring a career-high 20 points.

In the process, coach Sean Miller may have just found a new starting forward.

Heide, a 6-foot-7 junior who transferred to Texas from Purdue in the offseason, joined the starting five after Nic Codie tweaked his groin in practice earlier in the week. Texas (4-1) opens a stretch of three games in three days Monday at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii, and after the win over Rider, Miller certainly seemed open to keeping Heide in the starting lineup.

“We’ll have to take a look at it,” Miller said. “Hopefully (Codie) can bounce back. But you know, oftentimes, what happens when a player isn’t able to play, others take advantage of the opportunity. I thought certainly Cam, he showed a way of playing and a skill set that (the) other four players on the court, he makes the game easier for them because he can space the court.”

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Codie, a 6-8 sophomore from Dallas, has been a pleasant surprise this season while starting the first four games. After averaging just 5.4 minutes in 19 games as a freshman, he’s putting up 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 20.2 minutes a game while providing solid defense from the perimeter to the paint.

But Heide brings a different — and much-needed — element, as he showed against Rider. Texas entered the game shooting just 28.2% from 3-point range and 44.2% from the floor. Against Rider, those numbers soared to 36.6% and 55%.

“(Heide) strikes fear in the other team,” Miller said. “We want him to take open threes, and we have to be creative in helping him get those threes sometimes as well, because when he’s contributing in that area, he makes our team a better team.”

Heide made 41.2% of his shots from beyond the arc in his two seasons at Purdue but never attempted more than four 3-pointers in a game until he went 3-for-6 from long distance in an NCAA Tournament loss to Houston last season.

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But Heide looked ready and willing to shoot against Rider. He made a pair from downtown in the first half, which only seemed to warm him up. After missing his first attempt in the second half, Heide made four 3-pointers in less than 3 minutes late in the game as Texas pulled away for the rout. Several of those bombs came from well beyond NBA range.

“I practice threes that far every single day,” Heide said. “I kind of have a pre- and post-practice routine that I go through, and that’s one thing that I’ve been trying to work on, is being able to shoot the ball further.”

As he described his practice workouts during the postgame interviews, teammate Dailyn Swain smiled and nodded along.

“It’s super exciting to have a teammate going in what we call the flow state,” said Swain, who poured in 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go with three assists against Rider. “Honestly, I know when I pass it to him, it’s going in, and that’s only got to raise his confidence for the rest of the season. It’s super fun to watch.”

Heide’s usage is something to watch at the Maui Invitational, which starts for Texas with a Monday meeting against Arizona State (10:30 p.m., ESPN2). With a win, Texas would advance to the semifinals against Chaminade or Washington State (7 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN). 

Miller loves the spacing that Heide creates with his shooting range; he also praised the forward for his all-around game developed over three seasons in the powerhouse Purdue program.

“He’s not just a guy that can shoot threes,” Miller said. “He’s a very good offensive rebounder. He’s much more physical than you think he is defensively, and he knows where to be on defense. We talked about him having a big role at Texas and really believing in him and allowing him to shoot the ball when he’s open.”

Where: Lahaina Civic Center in Maui.

How to watch: All matches are on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU

Participating teams: Arizona State, Boise State, Chaminade, North Carolina State, Seton Hall, Texas, USC and Washington State. 

Texas basketball schedule: The Longhorns open the tournament Monday at 10:30 p.m. vs Arizona State on ESPN2. With a win, Texas advances to a semifinal against either host Chaminade or Washington State Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.