I would've never guessed we beat Nebraska with them shooting above 40% from 3.
Our last four opponents have done it, and it exaggerated the margin of victory for Minnesota and Purdue and was pretty much why we lost to Northwestern as we played them even or better in other facets of the game.
Right now we rank last in the B1G at 39% allowed on three-pointers. There's some good evidence that this is partly attributable to bad luck. Consider that in the past seven seasons, Wisconsin has ranked as high as 8th in the country and as low as 308th in the country in defensive 3P% allowed. Also consider that Iowa allowed 42.9% on threes last year (in B1G play) and is at just 31.7% this year with basically the exact same coaching and personnel.
We're not allowing a particularly egregious amount of three-point attempts. It's a bit on the high side: 37.1 of opponent field goal attempts are 3-pointers in B1G play. For context, Nebraska is 1st in the conference at 28.4% and Iowa is last at 41.4%. Michigan State is right in our neighborhood. They allow a 3-pointer on 38.5% of all attempts, but opponents are only making 25.6% of them!
My point is NOT that this is due to regress. See above, opponents torched Iowa for the entire season last year. 18 or 20 games is too small of a sample size for these things to smooth out.
My point is also NOT that we're particularly good at defending the 3 and have only gotten unlucky. The luck is a big part but we too often sag off guys, or miss switches, and are late with closeouts (please no more Issa debate in this thread).
My point IS that we've gotten a bit unlucky with our opponents shooting hot. Our eyes aren't lying... think of some of the banked-in or off-balance shots that have gone in against us. We have games left against Penn State twice, Indiana twice, Minnesota, and Northwestern, all of who are capable of laying bricks.
We beat Nebraska with the Huskers shooting 40.9% on threes. If those teams above shoot sub-30%, which they are more than capable of, we have a great chance of winning.
Our last four opponents have done it, and it exaggerated the margin of victory for Minnesota and Purdue and was pretty much why we lost to Northwestern as we played them even or better in other facets of the game.
Right now we rank last in the B1G at 39% allowed on three-pointers. There's some good evidence that this is partly attributable to bad luck. Consider that in the past seven seasons, Wisconsin has ranked as high as 8th in the country and as low as 308th in the country in defensive 3P% allowed. Also consider that Iowa allowed 42.9% on threes last year (in B1G play) and is at just 31.7% this year with basically the exact same coaching and personnel.
We're not allowing a particularly egregious amount of three-point attempts. It's a bit on the high side: 37.1 of opponent field goal attempts are 3-pointers in B1G play. For context, Nebraska is 1st in the conference at 28.4% and Iowa is last at 41.4%. Michigan State is right in our neighborhood. They allow a 3-pointer on 38.5% of all attempts, but opponents are only making 25.6% of them!
My point is NOT that this is due to regress. See above, opponents torched Iowa for the entire season last year. 18 or 20 games is too small of a sample size for these things to smooth out.
My point is also NOT that we're particularly good at defending the 3 and have only gotten unlucky. The luck is a big part but we too often sag off guys, or miss switches, and are late with closeouts (please no more Issa debate in this thread).
My point IS that we've gotten a bit unlucky with our opponents shooting hot. Our eyes aren't lying... think of some of the banked-in or off-balance shots that have gone in against us. We have games left against Penn State twice, Indiana twice, Minnesota, and Northwestern, all of who are capable of laying bricks.
We beat Nebraska with the Huskers shooting 40.9% on threes. If those teams above shoot sub-30%, which they are more than capable of, we have a great chance of winning.
