Just about everyone (including myself) have brought up our susceptibility to give up the 3, but MU's own poor 3-point shooting at times has been just as big of a factor in many losses. In the spirit of Buzz "Rainman" Williams, I broke down MU's 3-point shooting in games against the Top 25:
11 Losses:
Louisville 3-15
Georgetown 2-12
Villanova 3-16
UCONN 6-18
Notre Dame 10-20
Louisville 4-17
Pitt 7-20
Vanderbilt 5-14
Wisconsin 4-9
Gonzaga 6-21
Duke 4-20
6 Wins:
Xavier 5-12
West Virginia 5-11
UCONN 4-20
Syracuse 6-13
Notre Dame 12-17
West Virginia 5-13
11 Loss Total: 54-182 4.9-16.5 29.6%
6 Win Total: 37-86 6.2-14.3 43%
Obviously, shooting is of a fickle nature.....sometimes you're HOT.....sometimes NOT. However, there are things you can do to improve your percentages. MU needs to get good ball movement and not pull the trigger on questionable shots early in the shot clock. There have been many times this season where MU has been poor in both of those areas. In stark contrast, last year's squad was as good as it gets in those areas and shot "lights out" en route to becoming one of the most "over-achieving" teams I have ever seen.