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Iowa Basketball: Where Is Isaiah Moss?

By Jeremy Karll

Dec 3, 2016; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery talks with guard Isaiah Moss (4) during the second half against the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Nebraska Omaha won 98-89. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2016; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery talks with guard Isaiah Moss (4) during the second half against the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Nebraska Omaha won 98-89. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /
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Isaiah Moss went from an important starter to the end of the bench

After redshirting last season, Isaiah Moss‘ freshman campaign has been all over the place. He didn’t see consistent minutes until the seventh game of the year when he cracked the starting lineup for the first time but has seemingly fallen out of Iowa basketball‘s rotation over the past five games.

Moss went from being named the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Week in mid-December to only playing six minutes in Iowa’s 76-64 loss to Illinois on Wednesday night in late January.

It’s the first time Moss didn’t play double-digit minutes since November 26 against Memphis and is the fifth straight game he didn’t see 20 minutes. This comes after averaging 22.9 minutes per game in the previous 10 games, including playing 30-plus minutes three times in that stretch.

In fact, Moss went from playing 37 minutes in Iowa’s double-overtime loss to Nebraska to just 18 minutes against Rutgers.

His production has tailed off since his 35 combined points against Stetson and Iowa State that cemented himself in the rotation, but he’s still been a consistent offensive presence for the Hawkeyes.

Despite only averaging four points per game on 40 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent shooting from three in the past five games, Moss averaged 9.5 points per game on 50.7 percent shooting and 39.3 percent three-point shooting over his first 10 starts.

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On the season, only Peter Jok and Tyler Cook average more points per game and his 50.7 shooting percentage is just 0.1 percent lower than Brady Ellingson‘s, who leads Iowa’s backcourt.

Even though the Hawkeyes are 45th in the nation in points per game this season at 80.4, they have struggled over the past give games. The Hawkeyes have scored fewer than 80 points in four of their past five games.

Peter Jok’s production has decreased, in turn impacting Iowa’s offense, because of back problems. Iowa scored 83 points against Purdue when Jok scored 29 points but have struggled creating offense otherwise. That said, Fran McCaffery could have used Moss more heavily in the offense to help give Jok more rest in hopes of not having his injury become a season-long issue.

By no means would Moss have been able to completely make up for Jok’s production as the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 21 points per game, but he’s easily Iowa’s best option in the backcourt outside of Jordan Bohannon who already plays 28 minutes per game.

Although, McCaffery opted towards Maishe Dailey against Illinois instead. Dailey, a freshman too, had only played in eight games, all blowouts, this season prior to Wednesday. Still, Moss didn’t return after six minutes in the first half.

Dailey played five minutes the rest of the way and recorded two points, one rebound and one assists. The former Big Ten Freshman of the Week sat on the bench watching as his only stat against the Illini was a turnover in six minutes.

McCaffery even started two forwards in Nicholas Baer and Ahmad Wagner over him to start the second half and rolled with a clearly injured Peter Jok.

It would have been more beneficial to give Moss’ fresh legs a run in the second half and see if his versatile offensive arsenal could give their offense a spark instead of Jok, who could barely shoot because of his back.

Isaiah Moss won’t solve all of Iowa’s problems, especially on defense where they give up the most points per game in the Big Ten and rank 301st nationally, but he does give them needed production on offense.

Granted Iowa has started each of the past three games down 8-0, but that shouldn’t automatically negate Moss from the rotation, especially when considering the other four starters continue to see fairly regular playing time.

Plus, Iowa is 7-2 when Moss scores at least eight points, but he needs more playing time than what he’s currently getting. He has an occasional good scoring game when he sees 15-to-20 minutes, but he’s much better when he can find a rhythm.

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Moss average 17.9 points per 40 minutes in games he sees at least 21 minutes in compared to just 10.7 points per 40 minutes when he sees 15-to-20 minutes. it’s not a big difference, but consistent playing time throughout the game allows him to get into the flow of the game.

It makes sense if Fran McCaffery wants to see what he has in freshman Maishe Dailey. He did the same with freshman Ryan Kriener and now he’s playing like a borderline starter.

That said, it seems counterproductive to dig into Moss’ minutes while Ellingson continues to have a significant role off the bench despite scoring five total points in the past six games. Even with his poor production, Ellingson has seen more playing time than Moss in two of the past three games.

It’s a rebuilding year so McCaffery is trying to figure out his team before moving forward with key recruits in Connor McCaffery and Luka Garza joining the team next season. However, just like with the addition of Kriener in the frontcourt, it shouldn’t cut into the minutes of players who have earned playing time.

Isaiah Moss has been up-and-down this year, like all of Iowa’s freshmen, but he’s one of the most productive when he gets playing time.

Next: Game Awards: Hawkeyes Drop Game To Illinois

With just six minutes against Illinois and not playing in the second half, it’s possible he won’t start against Ohio State on Saturday and will have to earn his way back into the rotation. After he played his way into the starting lineup at the start of the season, it’s unclear why he’s fallen out of it during conference play.

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