KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Folks across the country watching the first-round of the NCAA Tournament last week thought it rightfully funny when they saw a couple of stadium workers scurry up a ladder and place a construction level across the rim.
Turns out Iowa State players, puzzled by their shots clanking off the iron during pregame warmsups, were right: It wasn’t perfectly horizontal.
The NCAA acknowledged later that “a minor adjustment” was made before the game, and the Cyclones were quick to say afterward that it had no bearing on their 59-41 loss to Pittsburgh. But whether the rim was physically off-center, or caused Iowa State to be mentally off-base, the result was unmistakable: The Cyclones trailed 22-2 to start the game, finished 23.3% from the floor and, perhaps most jaw-droppingly, were an abysmal 2 of 21 from 3-point range.
“It just wasn’t going in,” Cyclones sharpshooter Gabe Kalscheur said. “Sometimes that happens.”
From the 3-point line, it’s happening more than ever.
Teams shot 31.2% from beyond the arc during the opening weekend, the worst percentage since the NCAA added the line for the 1987 tournament. And of the 16 teams that advanced to the second week, half of them shot worse than 30% last weekend; only UConn was over the 40% mark heading into its game Thursday night against Arkansas.
“I do think this: I think there is a great deal of emphasis placed on defense in college basketball now,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, whose team was 4 of 16 from the arc in the first round against Louisiana but bounced back against Duke.
“You come down the court — whether we’re playing Louisiana the other night or Duke — can we find a way to score here? Can we shake loose and get a good look? And if you do get it, oftentimes, I think players are surprised that they’ve got such a good look,” Barnes continued. “I do think defense probably has as much to do with it as anything.”
That goes for in the paint and on the perimeter.
Teams have become so adept at clogging the interior, preventing easy buckets in the post and clean drives to the rim, that the ball sticks outside.
And when it’s there, play has become so physical that just about every look from 3 is contested.