StatWatch: Three Pointers

Two Badgers are in striking distance of significant single-season three-point-shooting accomplishments.

First, Ben Brust is within shouting distance of the single-season record for most three-pointers made. He currently is 71 for 181 from three on the season. The Badger record for most threes made in a season is 78, by Sean Mason in 1998-99. Over his last 13 games, Brust is averaging 2.6 threes per game. So if the Badgers get a win in either tournament, he's got a good chance.

Second, Sam Dekker is currently 47 for 110 from three. With three more threes he will join the prestigious 50-three club. Just 20 other Badgers (including Brust, obviously) have hit at least 50 threes in a single season—and only one of them did it as a freshman: Devin Harris. (Piece of trivia: Dekker currently trails both Harris and Jeremy Hall on the list of most threes by a freshman. Hall hit 49 threes as a freshman in 1996, his only season with the Badgers.) Again, if the Badgers can win one game in either tournament, Dekker's got a good chance to get to 50.

Third, Dekker will likely finish the season with the second-best three-point shooting percentage by a Badger freshman. He's currently at 42.7%. Tim Locum holds the record at 44.1% and Hennssy Auriantal is currently second at 39.8%. Assuming Dekker shoots 10 more threes, he'd need to hit 6 of them to get to 44.2%. If he went 0-10 he'd fall below Auriantal. He'd have to go 0 for 17 to fall behind Hall for third place.

One other note: Dekker already qualifies for the career three-point percentage list because he has over 100 attempts. At 42.7% for his career, he's currently the fourth-best three-point shooter in Badgers history. He trails only Tim Locum (47.2%), Trent Jackson (44.9%), and Brian Good (43.1%).

UPDATE: There is one stat in which Dekker has surpassed Harris when comparing their freshman seasons: most three-pointers made during conference play. Dekker went 28 for 66; Harris went 27 for 75 his freshman season. Of course, the conference season was only 16 games back then, but Harris still played a lot more minutes and took more attempts.