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This marks the fifth season where men's Division I teams have played with the 3-point line at its current distance. Over that time, the share of attempts devoted to tries from beyond the arc has remained notably steady. It's as if the current line has landed on some kind of hardwired "correct" distance, and from now until forever we'll see about 37% of men's shots be 3s. As for individual 3-point heroics in 2023-24 in particular, make room for a new name in your hoops awareness. There's a case to be made that Northwestern State's Cliff Davis is having the nation's best season of perimeter shooting. Everyone else is just playing for second. True, the heroics recorded by Davis haven't been enough to move the needle for his team. In fact, at 2-13 the Demons are yet to defeat a D-I opponent this season. All of which makes the season Davis is having even more remarkable. The junior is shooting 43% from outside and officially ranks second to Hofstra's Tyler Thomas in D-I, in terms of 3s made per game. Not bad for a player that started the season coming off the bench. Indeed, Davis really shines when playing time is held constant. At 5.4 made 3s per 40 minutes, he's setting a pace few D-I men's players have been able to match with the current 3-point line. Then again there are other varieties of 3-point excellence beyond volume. Which brings us to a certain first-year star at Kentucky... Reed Sheppard's season really has been as amazing as you think
Sheppard has been climbing rapidly in ESPN.com's projections of the 2024 NBA draft, and with good reason. When you connect on 54% of your 3s and average 12 points as a first-year reserve in Lexington, you are in select company. One instructive comparison for Sheppard is perhaps supplied by Vanderbilt's Aaron Nesmith in 2019-20. Today Nesmith is a member of the Indiana Pacers. When he was a sophomore at Vandy, however, he was just eight months older than the 19-year-old Sheppard is today. Nesmith's season was cut short by a foot injury after just 15 games, but in that short time he put up outstanding numbers for 3-point volume (4.8 makes per 40 minutes) and accuracy (52%). At 3.3 makes per 40, Sheppard isn't tasked with carrying the same load in the UK offense that Nesmith was for the Commodores four years ago. Nevertheless, Sheppard has been superb in more ways than one. He recorded four steals in a loss to Kansas and five in a win over Saint Joseph's. Sheppard also distributes the ball and even contributes on the defensive glass at a listed height of 6-foot-3. UK's breakout star is posting a 3-point percentage that would of course be very good even inside the arc. Yet in Sheppard's hands each of these makes is worth 50% more. That adds up, and the Wildcats have reaped the benefit. The Flyers have their own version of SheppardStill another useful benchmark for Sheppard's performance is furnished in the present tense by what Koby Brea has been doing this season at Dayton. Like Sheppard, Anthony Grant's perimeter scorer comes off the bench. To say the Flyers receive a lift when Brea enters the game is putting it mildly. The junior is averaging 4.3 made 3s per 40 minutes while shooting 49% from beyond the arc. With wins over Cincinnati and St. John's, the Flyers have been appearing in the top 20 of the NET rankings and even in the top 10 nationally for strength of record (SOR). It's early, of course, but if present trends continue Dayton could be looking at a seed in the top half of the 2024 bracket. A fair portion of that credit goes to Brea. He's the best perimeter scorer on one of the best perimeter shooting teams in the country. Creating space for 2s by draining 3sIn 2020-21 Noah Waterman shot 53% on his 3s as a first-year supporting player at Detroit Mercy. Today, Waterman's at BYU, playing alongside fellow perimeter threats like Trevin Knell and Jaxson Robinson. The results for the Cougars have been unmistakable, even in the wake of an 11-point loss at home to Cincinnati. Mark Pope's group is one of the best 2-point shooting teams in the nation, a fact attributable in part to the threat posed and space created by Robinson, Knell and Waterman. The trio has combined to connect on 112 3s this season on 42% shooting. Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard is the only major-conference player seeing regular playing time who has posted a higher number for 3-point makes per 40 minutes (4.7) than Robinson's (4.6). To be sure, life on the road in the Big 12 will be challenging, and there will be nights where the 3s aren't falling even for BYU. Still, for a team picked to finish 13th in a 14-team league, the Cougars are outperforming expectations by a wide margin in 2023-24. Perimeter success is paying big dividends for Brigham Young.
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