MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s 3-point shooting was bound to suffer this season when sophomore gunners Eron Harris and Terry Henderson transferred. And the suffering has been steep.
The Mountaineers rank dead last in the Big 12, making only 29.4 percent of their 3s. That’s 329th out of 351 teams in Division I and third-worst among all power-conference teams, edging only Rutgers (29.2 percent) and Georgia Tech (27.8 percent).
Unlike the Scarlet Knights and Yellow Jackets, however, West Virginia is positioned to make the NCAA tournament. The Mountaineers (18-5, 6-4) have won big despite projecting to become the weakest perimeter shooting team of the Bob Huggins era. The only other squad below 31 percent was the 2012 team (29.8 percent) that finished 19-14 and lost its NCAA opener to Gonzaga.
Despite struggling to shoot the lowest percentage in the Big 12, West Virginia still attempts more 3s than any team in the league except Iowa State. Chalk that up to having only two legit low-post scorers (Devin Williams and Elijah Macon) and a pair of forwards (Nathan Adrian and Jonathan Holton) who aren’t capitalizing on open looks.
After Holton missed a 3 during Saturday’s 87-69 loss to Baylor—leaving him 8-of-46 this season—Huggins told him: “Don’t shoot it, man. Don’t shoot it until you get in the gym and start making those in practice. You start making them in practice, then you start shooting them in the game.”
An individual breakdown of players in the rotation and where their 3-point shooting percentages stand:
