Sure, Vick can hit threes, but who is KU’s second-best option from beyond arc?
Kansas senior guard Lagerald Vick will enter Saturday’s KU-Kentucky game at 5 p.m. in Rupp Arena as the most productive and most accurate three-point shooter of all the participants.
The 6-foot-5 Memphis native has cashed a KU-leading 58 threes — 26 more than Kentucky freshman Tyler Herro, who has made 32. Vick has attempted 127 shots behind the arc, meaning he’s shooting threes at a 45.7 percent clip.
Kentucky’s most-accurate three-point shooter is sophomore forward PJ Washington, who has made 41.2 percent (14 of 34) in limited attempts. Herro, who has hoisted a team-leading 90 attempts, has converted 35.6 percent of his threes.
Vick leads the Big 12 in both three-point makes and percentage, however, his KU teammates have not been nearly as steady, begging the question: Which player is the Jayhawks’ second-best option from three?
“Well, I would say all of them,” KU coach Bill Self said Thursday at his weekly news conference at Allen Fieldhouse. “I do think Dedric (Lawson, 8 of 31, .258 from three) can shoot the ball about as well as anybody. I coached Q (Quentin Grimes, 22 of 71, .310) this summer and I saw what he did,” he added of the MVP of the FIBA Americas Under 18 championship. “I know he can shoot the ball.
“Charlie should be. Charlie has not had as many opportunities,” he added of Charlie Moore, who has made 12 of 44 for 27.3 percent. “Ochai (Agbaji, 4 of 10, .400) is developing as a shooter. I think Devon (Dotson, 15 of 36, .417) from a percentage standpoint is terrific. He just doesn’t take many.”
Self noted that Vick is such a threat from outside that KU “can run bad offense and a guy can jump up and make a shot. Lagerald has made a ton of those this year — bad or marginal shots at best. He just knocks them down.
“The bottom line is we don’t have as many other guys that can get their own,” Self added. “So we have to kind of manufacture some things. That’s why it’s so important for everybody to be aggressive and try to force help. We have better shooters than we’ve shot it. Certainly it’s not going to be like last year (when KU had threats in Vick, Devonté Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk, Malik Newman).”
KU junior forward Lawson went 2 for 2 from three last game against Iowa State. He could be the one player to increase his attempts dramatically as the season continues.
“I think he should shoot more threes. I’ve told him that throughout the season. He’d not shot them well to date up until the last game,” Self said of the 6-9 Memphis native who averages 19.5 points and 10.9 rebounds a game. “He’s a good shooter. The way he’ll be defended now without having Doke (injured Udoka Azubuike) around, they can put two guys on him, lay on him, beat him up so to speak. He needs to get away from the basket some. I don’t think those are bad plays at all.
“I don’t know how they’ll guard. I do know we all need to be very aggressive and not just play to one guy shooting the ball. We need to play all five guys being threats out there. There’s been time in games we have not been good at that at all.”
KU (16-3) has made 131 of 368 threes for 35.6 percent. Kentucky (15-3) has made 110 of 308 for 35.7 percent KU’s opponents have made 169 of 500 for 33.8 percent. Kentucky’s foes have cashed 146 of 408 for 35.8 percent.
In seven Big 12 games, KU has made 46 of 130 threes (.354) to their opponents’ 66 of 177 (.373). Kentucky has cashed 33 of 94 threes (.351) in six conference games; the Wildcats’ opponents 45 of 142 (.317).
“It depends on the game … Quentin could be on. We could have Dedric like last game. Pretty much everybody can be balanced for that,” Agbaji said of candidates to consistently hit threes besides Vick.
Interrupting the conference season
The SEC/Big 12 Challenge is being held after seven games of the Big 12 season.
“To me it’s not as important as playing at Texas (on Tuesday), but in the moment it’s as big as any game that we’ll have,” Self said. “To our players, they will feel that same way too. Breaking up your conference season to do this … I don’t think any coach would say they are a huge fan of it. It’s great exposure for our league. It’s great exposure for the SEC. For one day on (ESPN) GameDay we’ll actually be hearing about the Big 12 and all the schools which is great for our league.”
No news on De Sousa
As of Thursday afternoon there was no change in the status of Silvio De Sousa, who has not played in a game this season as he awaits a decision on his eligibility.
“I would say I haven’t heard anything. We’re still holding out hope (he’ll become eligible) but I haven’t heard anything new,” Self said.
Self goes recruiting
The Jayhawks practiced at 7 a.m. Thursday so Self could hit the road recruiting. Self was to head to Montverde Academy in Florida to watch a game of Precious Achiuwa, a 6-9 senior forward who is ranked No. 9 in the Class of 2019 by RIvals.com. Achiuwa is considering KU, North Carolina, UConn, St. John’s and others.
Rivals.com analyst Eric Bossi said Self also would watch a game of Tristan Enaruna, a 6-7 senior forward from Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah. Enaruna, who is not ranked, has received scholarship offers from KU, Texas Tech, Illinois, Creighton and Grand Canyon thus far, Bossi reports.
Robinson-Earl, Fritz picked for McDonald’s game
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, a former Bishop Miege forward now at IMG Academy in Florida, was one of 24 athletes selected Thursday to play in the McDonald’s All-America basketball game on March 27 in Atlanta. He has signed to play at Villanova.
KU is recruiting three players who will compete in the McDonald’s game. They are: Precious Achiuwa, Anthony Edwards and Matthew Hurt. Ed Fritz of Blue Valley Northwest was named head coach of the East team. Luke Laser of BV Northwest and Brett Flory of Derby High were named Fritz’s assistants.
