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By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — When Maishe Dailey’s number was called on Thursday night in the nonconference finale against Delaware State, he produced.
The freshman played a career-high 21 minutes, scoring eight points to help the University of Iowa men’s basketball team to an 89-57 rout of the Hornets on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Dailey made 3-of-8 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers, and led the team with seven rebounds. In Iowa’s first 13 games, the Ohio native played in six contests for a total of 45 minutes.
“I stayed in the gym, stayed confident, and went hard in practice,” said Dailey of staying ready. “I kept my energy up and I kept it up on the bench to stay positive. When my number was called I capitalized.”
Dailey was a candidate to redshirt heading into the season after being the final signee for the 2016 recruiting class. He wanted to play.
“I thought about it and nothing comes easy,” said Dailey. “I always like to work for something. I knew I could play if I worked for it and put in the time in the gym to get confidence and trust from the coaches. When I get out there, capitalize.”
Iowa led 11-2 less than four minutes into the game. The Hawkeyes made seven of their first 10 shots to build a 21-10 lead at the 12:32 mark.
Dailey entered early in a Delaware State scoring drought that spanned 11:50 and included 17 missed field goals. He made back-to-back field goals — a dunk and 3-pointer from the corner — to stretch Iowa’s lead to 33-13.
“Maishe has a versatility about him that’s impressive,” said UI head coach Fran McCaffery. “He can laterally get his feet apart and move his feat to contain a smaller, quicker guy, but he’s 6-foot-7 and long so he can stick his nose in there on the glass and rebound with bigger guys and make 3s.
“As he gets stronger, he’s going to be even more explosive.”
McCaffery spread out the minutes against Delaware State. Nobody on the roster played more than 24 minutes and all 12 players available saw action.
Senior Peter Jok scored 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting in just 15 minutes. He hobbled off the court in the first half with a hip injury and played sparingly in the second half before shutting it down.
“It’s sore,” said McCaffery. “We thought we’d start him in the second half to see if he could get it loosened up. He got a quick seven (points) and said, ‘OK, that’s it.'”
That opened the door for everybody else.
After leading by as many as 28 points in the first half, the lead went northward from there. Iowa led by 21 or more points for the duration of the second half and by as many as 35 points late in the game.
“It was really good to get those guys minutes,” said McCaffery. “Kriener, we threw him in the other night because we had to, and he has been practicing well. He was good. If you put him in there he’ll score, rebound, fight in the post. He has to settle down, he’s way too tough on himself.”
Kriener finished with five points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. He made both of his field goal attempts.
The Hawkeyes shot 56.9 percent for the game, making 29-of-51 field goals and eight 3-pointers. Iowa finished with 38 points in the paint and had a 21-0 advantage in fast-break points.
Defensively, Delaware State made just 16-of-66 field goals to shoot 24.2 percent. It went 6-of-24 from 3-point range and committed 18 turnovers.
Sophomore Ahmad Wagner and Isaiah Moss joined Jok in double figures, finishing with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Four Hawkeyes scored eight or more points in the game.
The Hawkeyes will now get a short holiday break before returning to campus on Dec. 25 to begin preparation for their Big Ten opener at No. 15 Purdue. The game will be Dec. 28 in West Lafayette.
