All five Villanova starters 3-point shooting threats

By Staff     Mar 28, 2018

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Villanova's Mikal Bridges (25) shoots over Alabama's Galin Smith (30) during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Stats guru Ken Pomeroy uses his kenpom.com website to rank all 351 Division I schools in various categories, including offensive efficiency, which is based on points per 100 possessions.

Kansas national semifinal opponent Villanova ranks first in the nation in offensive efficiency with a rating of 127.3. Kansas is fifth at 121.

One thing that makes Villanova so hard to guard is that all five starters are 3-point shooting threats. That forces defenses to spread the floor, which in turn creates big driving lanes for the man with the ball in his hands, junior point guard Jalen Brunson.

The 3-point shooting percentages of Villanova’s five starters, from point guard to center: Brunson (.414), Phil Booth (.390), Mikal Bridges (.436), Eric Paschall (.333), Omari Spellman (.446).

Bridges, who had five steals in the Elite Eight game between the schools in 2016, averages six 3-point attempts a game and also is the squad’s best athlete. Bridges is a potential lottery pick.

Sixth man Donte DiVincenzo (.385) takes the second-most 3-pointers per game (5.3) and scored 18 points in Villanova’s 81-58 victory vs. Alabama in the second round of the NCAA tournament. DiVincenzo made just 1 of 6 3-pointers in the 71-59 Elite Eight victory vs. Texas Tech, but still managed 12 points.

The Wildcats hit 40 percent from 3-point range and 47.1 percent of their field-goal attempts come from beyond the arc, the 15th-highest ratio in the nation. KU ranks ninth with a .403 percentage and 80th with 41.4 percent of its field goal attempts coming from long distance.

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