City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Close game late. Ball in his hands. Ryan Daly is no stranger to the scenario.

The Delaware sophomore guard said he’s been in the spot "about 15 or 16 times" over the last two and a half seasons, starting with his senior year at Archbishop Carroll.

It was the case again on Thursday against Cornell at the Bob Carpenter Center.

“Ry’s a fearless guy and he makes big shots,” said second-year Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby. “I think you saw it last year, some of the big shots he made for us. He wants the ball in his hands at the end of the games...End of game, you’re going to get it in your best player’s hands and let him make plays.”

As he has many times before, Daly delivered for his team. At the end of regulation, the 6-foot-5 guard got the ball at the top key and drove left before banking in a contested jump shot from just outside the paint to tie the game with 16 seconds left.

After the Blue Hens held on for overtime, it was Daly who delivered once again. With his team trailing by one this time Daly drove right and scored to give Delaware a one-point lead. He picked up a steal on the other end and hit six free throws down the stretch, scoring eight points in the final minute of overtime to pick up the 97-96 overtime victory.

“It’s a great feeling to have a guy like that,” redshirt-junior guard Darian Bryant said. “That’s just a great asset of our team to have a guy who can go get us bucket whenever we need to and just picks up the whole team together as a group.”

Daly put together an incredible rookie season at Delaware last season, averaging 16 points per game to earn the Colonial Athletic Association’s Rookie of the Year award.

In year two, defenses have played Daly tough. The Blue Hens’ leading scorer has had teams try different things to slow him down. No opponent is going to come in surprised that No. 0 can really score the rock. Every defensive player is going to have an eye on Daly.

Still, Daly has found a way to up his scoring average to 16.9 points per game, while still shooting around 43 percent from the field.

On Saturday, Cornell’s 6-foot-6 forward Steve Julian shadowed Daly for most of the day, using his length to make things tough for Daly inside. Daly started the game 0-for-6 from the field, but made five of his last 11 shot attempts to finish with 19 points.

“I think that’s the thing I’ve had to improve the most, realizing that defense are going to key on me and if I turn my back there’s probably a double cover or something,” Daly said.

Last season, guard Anthony Mosley (10 ppg) was the only player to join Daly in averaging double figures. Daly said the Blue Hens have a lot more offensive firepower this season.

Freshman guards Kevin Anderson and Ryan Allen both entered Thursday averaging double figures for the Blue Hens. Mosley and redshirt-junior forward Eric Carter joined them after solid scoring days against Cornell. Five Blue Hens are now averaging more than 10 points per game.

While Anderson missed Thursday’s game with a knee injury, Allen poured in a career-high 24 points, Mosley scored 18 and Carter added 15.

“That’s something I talk to Ryan about a lot,” Ingelsby said. “He’s got to be willing to trust his teammates because we do have some offensive weapons and firepower to help him. Those young guys, they’re starting to learn how to play together on the offensive end. They’re all talented and they all bring a little something different to the table.”

Daly’s assists have jumped from 2.1 per game as a freshman to 2.8 per game as a sophomore. He had just two assists against Cornell, but led Delaware in assists in the team’s previous two wins.

“I realize that teams are probably game planning for me as one of the better players on our team, so I think my vision’s gone up to a new level,” he said.

Thus far, Delaware is in the same spot it was last year, 7-6, entering CAA play. After a four-game skid, the Blue Hens have righted the ship by winning three in a row, including two overtime victories, heading into conference play on Saturday at UNC-Wilmington.

With some players to take the load off of Daly as opponents continue to try and lock him down, the Blue Hens are confident they can avoid their 5-13 conference mark from a season ago.

“Those guys have a lot of fun playing together, and I think you’re starting to see us gel and mesh together as we head into conference game,” Ingelsby said.