Iowa's Dale Jones sidelined indefinitely

Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery used a nine-man rotation in Wednesday’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory over Florida State. Part of that was by design, part out of necessity.

Junior guard Dale Jones didn’t play after suffering a knee injury in practice Tuesday. McCaffery said Friday that Jones is “sidelined indefinitely.” That includes Saturday’s 2 p.m. game against Missouri-Kansas City at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Jones is averaging 5.5 points and 3.0 rebounds off the bench this season. He is shooting 45 percent from 3-point range (9-for-20) and also has shown an ability to rebound from the guard spot. He scored a career-high 16 points against Coppin State.

Jones, who is from Waterloo, redshirted the 2013-14 season at Tyler Junior College in Texas after a knee injury.

“I know the doctor is talking to him and he’s talking to his mom right now,” McCaffery said after Wednesday’s game. “He’ll have some decisions to make.”

Without Jones in the 78-75 overtime victory over Florida State, McCaffery brought just four players off the bench — Dom Uhl, Ahmad Wagner, Brady Ellingson and Nicholas Baer. All five starters logged at least 33 minutes.

“We’re a little bit a lighter without Dale,” McCaffery said. “ ... I thought Dom was spectacular. I thought Ahmad was really good, and Nicholas and Brady were solid.”

Iowa (5-2) has five nonconference games remaining before its Big Ten opener against Michigan State on Dec. 29. Missouri-Kansas City is the first of those five. The Kangaroos, coached by former Drake assistant Kareem Richardson, are 5-2. One of Missouri-Kansas City’s victories this season came at Drake on Nov. 21. The Kangaroos opened the season with a 76-58 loss at Minnesota.