Big Blue Sharpshooters: Kentucky leads SEC in 3-point shooting

Kentucky has not always put a big emphasis on three-point shooting. That was expected to change when Mark Pope was hired. The former Utah Valley and BYU head coach went searching in the transfer portal for roster additions and placed a big emphasis on shooting.

That emphasis is paying off.

The Wildcats are up to No. 32 nationally in three-point field goal percentage (37.4%). Villanova (40%), Houston (39.5%), Clemson (38.9%), Iowa (38.6%), Texas Tech (38.4%), Purdue (38.4%), Xavier (38.3%), SMU (38.3%), and Notre Dame (37.9%) are the only power conference teams ranked ahead of UK.

Those shooting numbers have improved since SEC play began.

After seven games, Kentucky leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (41.2%). Missouri ranks second and is nearly three percentage points (38.6%) behind the Cats. Pope’s roster-building is paying off. UK has multiple players shooting over 40 percent from deep in league play.

Players	3-point field goals	3-point attempts	3-point percentage (SEC only)
Jaxson Robinson	25	55	45.5%
Koby Brea	17	38	44.7%
Ansley Almonor	15	28	53.6%
Lamont Butler	7	19	36.8%
Andrew Carr	3	12	25%
Travis Perry	4	11	36.4%
Otega Oweh	2	11	18.2%
Brandon Garrison	3	8	37.5%
Trent Noah	1	2	50%
Collin Chandler	0	2	0%
Amari Williams	0	1	0%

Jaxson Robinson, Koby Brea, and Ansley Almonor are shooting a combined 47.1 percent from behind the arc on 17.3 attempts per game. That is adding some extra bite to the offense as the Wildcats deal with some injury issues.

Basketball is a make or miss sport. Pope added some makers to his roster this offseason in the transfer portal. Those makes are showing up in SEC play. If Kentucky continues to shot 40-plus percent from three with sizable shot volume, this offense is going to be very difficult to stop.

Kentucky is doing a lot of living by the three lately.