The 3-point shot is college basketball’s great equalizer
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Freshman point guard Jordan Bohannon arrived on the Iowa campus this fall seeing green.
It was the same way for Peter Jok three years earlier.
Both players are good enough shooters that Iowa coach Fran McCaffery gives them the freedom to take shots mostly at their discretion.
That’s called having the green light in basketball terminology.
“He could pull up anytime from anywhere and shoot a good number,” McCaffery said of Bohannon, who has 50 made 3-point baskets to rank second on the team behind Jok’s 61. “I didn't want to have any deviation in that mentality for him. I just turned him loose.
“He'll shoot shots from great range. He'll force a couple. But he makes those sometimes. So you just let him go. “Like the last bucket of the half the other night. He was way, way out. But any time he pulls, I feel comfortable. Just make sure our guys go back and get it if it doesn't go in.”
McCaffery was referring to a 3-pointer that Bohannon made from about 25 feet in the closing seconds of the first half against Ohio State last Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa defeated the Buckeyes 85-72, making 10 3-pointers as a team.
Bohannon’s ability to make shots from 3-point range gives Iowa a dimension it didn’t have with previous point guards Mike Gesell and Anthony Clemmons. They both struggled from 3-point range and were more likely to score off penetration.
Bohannon, on the other hand, is as likely to score from 25 feet as he is on a layup.
Nebraska will have to be aware of Bohannon and Jok, assuming Jok plays, at all times in Sunday’s game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena or risk paying a price.
Jok said Friday that he expects to play against the Cornhuskers after missing the previous two games with a stiff back.
Combine his presence with Bohannon and sophomore shooting guard Brady Ellingson and Iowa has three weapons from 3-point range.
Ellingson has emerged as a reliable scorer this season after playing sparingly last season and struggling for much of the time when he did play. He is shooting a blistering 54.5 percent from 3-point range this season, converting on 24 of 44 attempts.
“I’m just shooting with a lot more confidence,” Ellingson said.
Nebraska is coming off a game in which it was shredded from 3-point range during a 72-61 loss to Michigan State on Thursday in Lincoln, Neb.
The 3-point shot is often the great equalizer. Some teams can lose in other statistical categories, but still stay prevail if they make enough treys.
“Yes, it makes the game a lot easier,” McCaffery said of the 3-point shot. “(Michigan State) makes 11. Nebraska makes four. That's a lot of points to make up. We make 11 threes the other night and the game looks easy. None of us expected an easy game. It was an easy game because we made 11 threes. That has completely changed the game.
“You look at the stat line. Nebraska out-rebounded Michigan State. They turned them over 15 times. But they made seven more threes. That's a game changer, especially when you make them in a row like that.”
A team with multiple threats from 3-point range has an easier time spreading the floor on offense because defenses have to respect those shooters by extending pressure.
“If you can spread the floor like that making threes, it makes you hard to guard,” McCaffery said.
Iowa has five players who have made at least 20 3-point baskets this season. Sophomore forward Nicholas Baer has made 22 treys, while redshirt freshman guard Isaiah Moss has made 20.
Iowa will be shooting for a third consecutive victory and to avenge a loss at Nebraska on Jan. 5 when the Cornhuskers made 10 3-pointers during a 93-90 victory in double overtime.
The Cornhuskers have lost six of their last seven Big Ten games after starting conference play with a 3-0 record.
Iowa vs. Nebraska
When: 1:06 p.m. Sunday
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
TV: Big Ten Network
Records: Iowa is 13-10 overall and 5-5 in the Big Ten; Nebraska is 10-12 and 4-6.
Series: Iowa holds an 18-10 advantage and have won six of the last nine meetings since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011.