The art of the three-point shot is always one of the most interesting aspects in basketball. Some teams exclusively live beyond the arc. For example, last season the North Dakota State Bison managed a 21-11 record while having the nation’s third-most amount of three in a game with 30.4, and hitting on 39.8% of those, which led the nation.
Yet when you look at the Kansas Jayhawks, their 2024-25 numbers show a much less reliant team. Kansas took on 21 threes per game, which found itself in 246th, and the Jayhawks hit on 35.4% of those shots (88th). Not numbers that are likely to win an NCAA National Championship, yet at the same time, manageable if you have consistent scoring across the court.
Kansas’ 91st-ranked 76.0 points per game tells you there was still work to do that goes beyond the three-point shots Kansas takes.
When speaking with the media ahead of the Jayhawks’ last exhibition against Fort Hays State, head coach Bill Self spoke about the need for a consistent three-point presence on the court.
“He [Kohl Rosario] and Jayden Dawson collectively need to combine to give us a legitimate three-point threat out there whenever they're on the court.”
In the two exhibitions Kansas played, while those numbers should be taken with bags of salt, when Kansas took down the No. 11 Louisville Cardinals in a 90-82 win, the Jayhawks hit 38.1% of their three-pointers. Against Fort Hays State, Kansas’ numbers took a drop-off with a 26.7% rate. Overall, across the two exhibitions, Kansas went 12-36 from beyond the arc.
Rosario shot 1-8 from downtown, and Dawson went 0-1. Obviously, the scoring burden will not always fall on them, but expect better numbers as the season gets underway and the team gels with one another.
Kansas' first official game of the season takes place next Monday at 7 p.m. CT against Green Bay.
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