Why Indiana should be shooting more 3-pointers and fewer long 2s
Nearly one-third of the 2024-25 college basketball regular season is complete.
For a fourth straight season under Mike Woodson, Indiana basketball has one of the nation’s lowest 3-point shooting volumes.
According to college basketball analytics site KenPom.com, the Hoosiers currently rank 350th out of 364 teams in percentage of field goals attempted from beyond the 3-point line. Indiana is 8-2 and ranked inside the top 40 of Pomeroy’s rankings.
Through 10 games, 29.7 percent of Indiana’s field goal attempts are 3-pointers. That’s the second-lowest among teams from power conferences. Only Syracuse (29.3 percent) ranks lower. The Division I average is 39.5 percent.
The last time Indiana basketball’s 3-point shooting volume was higher than the Division I average was the 2016-17 season, Tom Crean’s final year in Bloomington.
While Woodson suggested in the preseason that the Hoosiers would deploy a more modern offense with more 3-pointers in his fourth season, Indiana continues to generate most of its offense from 2s.
The Hoosiers score 57.2 percent of their points from 2s, which ranks 22nd nationally, and 20 percent from the free-throw line, ranking 145th nationally.
Indiana is playing at the 40th fastest tempo in the country, up from 122nd a season ago. That number will likely fall once Big Ten play begins and opponents emphasize forcing games into the halfcourt.
The 3-point shooting percentage across the roster through 10 games suggests Indiana has the personnel to take and make more perimeter shots.
The Hoosiers are shooting 35.9 percent on 3s. That percentage sits inside the top 100 nationally as of Wednesday morning. Indiana is also shooting a much better percentage from the free-throw line. IU is making 75.2 percent from the free-throw line, up from 66.4 percent last season.
Woodson’s fourth Indiana team has four players who have attempted at least 15 3-pointers and are shooting better than 36 percent from distance.
Point guard Myles Rice is 10-for-24 on triples (41.7 percent), Mackenzie Mgbako is 18-for-41 (43.9), Trey Galloway is 8-for-15 (53.3) and Luke Goode is 12-for-33 (36.4).
Still, after Woodson noted after the Tennessee exhibition that the Hoosiers were taking a volume of 3-point attempts in the high 20s in its preseason scrimmages, Indiana has only attempted 20 3-pointers in one game.
Digging into Indiana’s shot diet this season, the Hoosiers are attempting the 10th most jump shots from between 17 feet and the 3-point line in the country, according to Synergy Sports. No team from a power conference is taking more 2-point attempts from between 17 feet and the 3-point line than Indiana, according to Synergy.
Those long 2-point jump shots are also the least efficient attempts for Indiana through 10 games.
The Hoosiers have taken 50 jump shots from between 17 feet and the 3-point line and are shooting 17-for-50 (34 percent). On shorter jumpers out to 17 feet, Indiana is 20-for-39 (51.3 percent) and the Hoosiers are 61-for-170 on 3s (35.8 percent).
Eliminating some of the long 2s in favor of more looks at the rim or 3-point attempts would improve an IU offense that is off to a solid start in Woodson’s fourth season. The Hoosiers currently rank 44th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency after finishing last season ranked 105th.
In an interview with Sactown Sports in September, Woodson said he isn’t against shooting “a lot of 3s” while noting that “you’ve just gotta have the right personnel when you’re doing that.”
Through 10 games, Indiana has the personnel necessary to justify a lift in 3-point volume. More importantly, eliminating the long 2s with more 3s or paint touches will rid the Indiana offense of the least efficient part of its shot diet.
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