"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Sunday, March 05, 2017

7 of 10 Would Give Howard Greatest 3-Pt% in History of College Basketball


As I recorded Andrew Rowsey before the Creighton game asking a defender to come out and guard him at half court, dribbling, and then calmly sinking a 45-footer (see here and photo above), I dwelled on the fact that he might be only the third best three-pointer shooter in the Bradley Center. Steve Novak was sitting a few rows in front of me, and then there is Markus Howard.

If Markus Howard hits seven of his next 10 three-pointers he would be hitting at a 56.08 percent clip - giving him the greatest season in the history of college basketball. Of course, we do not now how many more three point attempts he will take between the Big East and NCAA tournament,

Howard can also become the greatest three-point shooter in the history of college basketball if he finishes the season 4 of 4, 13 of 20, 19 of 30 or 24 of 40, as shown on the table below. Howard is chasing only the 56.03 percent mark of Micah Mason of Duquesne a couple of years ago:


RANKNAMETEAM3FG3FGA3FG%
1Micah MasonDuquesne2013-146511656.03
2Markus HowardMarquette2016-177613855.07
1?Markus Howard (if 4 of 4)Marquette2016-178014256.34
1?Markus Howard (if 7 of 10)Marquette2016-178314856.08
1?Markus Howard (if 13 of 20)Marquette2016-178915856.33
1?Markus Howard (if 19 of 30)Marquette2016-179516856.55
1?Markus Howard (if 24 of 40)Marquette2016-1710017856.18
3Nick MastersonKennesaw St.2016-178816154.66
4Roosevelt MooreSaint Peter's1992-9353.28
5Travis FordKentucky1992-9352.88
6Royce OlneyNew Mexico1997-9851.28
7Troy HudsonSouthern Illinois1996-9751.15
8Brad LechtenbergSan Diego2003-0451.08
9Ross LandNorthern Arizona1998-9950.92
10Giddy PottsMiddle Tennessee2015-1650.64
11Salim StoudamireArizona2004-0550.42
12Jon DieblerOhio State2010-1150.22
13Josh CarterTexas A&M2006-0750.00
14Jeremy CrouchBradley2006-0750.00
15Chris WestlakeGreen Bay1994-9550.00

As long as Howard closes the season reasonably well he will finish as one of 15 players to ever shoot 50 percent from behind the arc for a season. Nick Masterson also matched the feat this season with Kennesaw State, a team that was eliminated from the ASun Tournament as the 252nd best team in the country, and played some non-Division 1 schools.

As a team, Marquette is now at 43 percent on three-pointers, a full 1.5 percent ahead of second place UCLA.



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