Three-point shooting was supposed to be a strength of this Kansas basketball team, but thus far, it hasn’t been. The lack of accuracy from behind the arc is becoming a big problem for the KU offense.
The Jayhawks have connected on just 34.6% of their shots taken from behind the arc through nine games. Although this doesn't seem horrific, it is significantly inflated due to two outlier games. In the first game of the season, KU came out blazing hot from long range, hitting 11 of their 22 three attempts. In the big game against Duke, the Jayhawks went 8-for-17 from three.
Kansas is just 45-for-146 in all the other games, for a paltry 30.8%. They’ve been under 30% in four of the nine games. These numbers aren’t going to work when KU gets to conference play.
Which Kansas basketball players are struggling from 3-point range?
There are plenty of culprits regarding how poorly the Jayhawks have shot from behind the arc. Dajuan Harris was a career 39% shooter from deep, but he’s hit just 25.9% this season, going 7-for-27. Zeke Mayo has been a much more prolific 3-point shooter over his career, but he’s been cold for the Jayhawks. Coming into the 2024-25 season, he was 231-for-595, good for 38.8%. He’s only connected this year on 14 of 45 attempts, or 31.1%.
AJ Storr is shooting 36% from three, Hunter Dickinson has hit on 33.3% of his attempts, and Rylan Griffin has been marginally better at 36.7%.
Only David Coit has had much success from behind the arc, dropping in 14-of-27 attempts for 48.7%. He’s been a pleasant surprise in several areas for this team, but he can’t carry the load from beyond the arc.
Harris, Mayo, Storr, Griffin, and Dickinson are all capable of shooting better and need to improve their consistency from 3-point range. If they can be more successful shooting from deep, it will open up the inside for Dickinson, KJ Adams, and Flory Bidunga, which in turn should create even more open shots from the outside.
The Big 12 Conference will be a gauntlet, and the Kansas basketball team must be more successful in 3-point shooting if it is to reach its potential and expectations. Many of these players were brought in from the transfer portal specifically to help with the scoring, but consistency on offense has been a significant issue so far.
Head coach Bill Self’s teams tend to make improvements over the winter break when they can concentrate fully on basketball. Hopefully, this version will also get better over the next few weeks. The talent and shooting ability are there; they just need positive results.