


COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The NCAA moved back the 3-point line this season to create more room in the lane and cut down on the barrage of 3s in college basketball.
Shooting percentages are down, historically low. Attempts also have dropped, slightly.
Clogged lanes? Depends on who you ask.
“I don’t think it’s changed a lot,” Kansas guard Marcus Garrett said. “I just feel like a lot more shots are being missed.”
He’s right.
With teams heavily relying on 3-pointers more and percentages steadily rising, the NCAA moved the arc back nearly two feet to 22 feet, 1
The goal was to make the lane more available for drives, cut down on the prevalence of 3-pointers and create more offensive spacing.
The result, at least from the arc, is teams are missing at an historic rate.
D-I teams are shooting 33.3% so far this season, lowest since the 3-point line was added to college basketball in 1986-87, according to KenPom.
Maryland Eastern Shore, annually one of the nation’s worst 3-point shooting teams, is last in D-I at 24.9%. Kennessaw State is right behind the Hawks at 25.1%.
Northern Alabama shot 29.8% last season, worst in the nation. This year, 25 teams are shooting at least that low.
Reigning national champion Virginia, which lost its top three scorers to the NBA, is 331st nationally at 29.2% from the arc, down from 39.5% last year.
The last time the NCAA moved the 3-point line back — a foot to 20 feet, 9 inches in 2009-10 — shooting percentages dipped the first few years before rising.
“If it goes by what normally happens, it’ll go down a bit,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “But it always comes back.”
What it hasn’t done is affect the elite shooters.
With players like the Warriors’ Steph Curry and Klay Thompson routinely shooting from well beyond the NBA 3-point line, college players started extending their range, too, almost to half court.
Stefan Gonzalez of UC Davis leads the nation at 49% from 3 this season, a year after Norfolk State’s Derrick Jamerson topped D-I at 49.7%. For players like them or Marquette’s Markus Howard, the nation’s leading scorer, it doesn’t really matter where the line is set.
The difference is found in the players around them.
For the post player who was able to stretch his range to the 3-point line, it’s now a bit tougher task. Same for the streaky, high-volume shooters.
This season, 32 players are shooting at least 40% from the 30-point arc, down from 49% last year.