Dailey Again Scores in Double Figures, USA Beats China to Make Quarterfinal at U19 World Cup

It looked as if Eric Dailey’s streak of scoring in double figures was in jeopardy, but then the fourth quarter came.

USA Basketball defeated China 92-69 at the FIBA U19 World Cup on Wednesday in Hungary. Dailey, an incoming freshman at Oklahoma State, scored 10 points to go with six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block. After scoring the game’s opening basket, Dailey didn’t score again until the fourth quarter, where he rattled off eight points.

The win pushes the Americans into the quarterfinal at the U19 World Cup where they will meet the winner of Japan and Hungary. Team USA’s next game will be Friday.

Wednesday’s game against China had some dicey moments for the Americans. China outscored the U.S. 24-19 in the third quarter, at one point taking a 59-58 lead with 1:24 to play before the Americans finished the quarter on a 11-0 run. It was a similar story to the Americans’ game against Slovenia where when they need to, they proved they can turn it on.

I mentioned Chinese player Wei Lun Zhao in a story Tuesday about the best shooters in the tournament, and I might’ve jinxed him. Averaging 14 points a game coming into Wednesday, Zhao failed to score in 16 minutes on the floor against Team USA. As a team, China went just 3-for-21 from 3.

Dailey was one of four Americans to score in double figures, joining Mark Armstrong (Villanova), Tobe Awaka (Tennessee) and Tre Johnson (2024 prospect).

Dailey has scored in double figures in every game at the tournament thus far and is averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 assists a game. With how deep the American team is, head coach Thomas Boyle is rotating quite a bit. That has led to Dailey playing about 17 minutes a game. His per 40 averages through four games in Hungary are 25.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.4 blocks and 2.9 steals.