More 3-point history for UK basketball

One might argue that it all started with "Pitino's Bombinos."  Rick's early teams were obsessed with shooting beyond the arc.  And while UK's use of long-range shots has waxed and waned over the years, it has certainly remained a fixture in Big Blue culture.  We love the three.  So it's unsurprising that the 'Cats would manage to leave another scratch in the record books by becoming the first team to hit a three in 1000 consecutive games.  Truth be told, UNLV's streak started earlier.  But once UK got going (and kept having successful seasons which allowed for more games played), they eventually passed everyone else.

How about some UK 3-point history?

PLAYERS

Most threes in a career:
TONY DELK - 283
KEITH BOGANS - 254
TAYSHAUN PRINCE - 204

Most threes in a season:
JODIE MEEKS (08-09) - 117
JAMAL MURRAY (15-16) - 113
TRAVIS FORD (92-93) - 101
(Malik Monk could make this list)

Most threes in a game:
JODIE MEEKS (1/13/09 at Tennesee) - 10
TONY DELK (1/20/96 vs. TCU) - 9
JODIE MEEKS (12/20/08 vs. Appalachian State) - 9
(we all remember Delk's 7 makes against Syracuse in '96)

Best 3P% (at least 100 made) in a career:
DORON LAMB - 47.5%
TRAVIS FORD - 44.5%
JAMAL MURRAY - 40.8%
(both Malik Monk and Derek Willis could make this list)

Best 3P% (at least 50 made) in a season:
TRAVIS FORD (92-93) - 52.9%
DORON LAMB (10-11) - 48.6%
DORON LAMB (11-12) - 46.6%
(Cameron Mills made 53.2% in a season but only made 42 shots)

TEAMS

Most threes made in a season:
1992-93: 340
1991-92: 317
1993-94: 301
1996-97: 287
2010-11: 281
1989-90: 281
1994-95: 276
1995-96: 266
2005-06: 265
1997-98: 250

Best 3P% in a season:
2010-11: 39.7%
1995-96: 39.7%
1992-93: 39.4%
2011-12: 37.8%
1994-95: 37.5%
1986-87: 37.2%
2007-08: 36.9%
1996-97: 36.9%
1997-98: 36.7%
2015-16: 36.6%

GAMES / MOMENTS

There are too many to count, but here are some that stand out for me, in chronological order.

4/1/96: Tony Delk falling into his own bench and getting mobbed by his teammates after being fouled on his SEVENTH made three of the National Championship game against Syracuse, about midway through the second half.

3/22/98: Cameron Mills made his only three of the game a big one, putting UK in the lead after trailing Duke by 17 midway through the second half.  This was Elite 8 revenge for the Cats.

12/8/01: Tayshaun Prince scored the first 15 points of the game for Kentucky on 5 consecutive threes, the last just BARELY inside the UK logo at midcourt, to send a message to North Carolina.  He ended up with 31 points and 7 made threes in a 20-point blowout.

3/27/05: Patrick Sparks made a frantic, buzzer-beating three against Michigan State to force overtime in a classic Elite 8 game.  Not only did the shot barely fall in after hanging on the rim forever, but it had to be reviewed for several minutes because it was unclear whether Sparks was behind the line.  It's sad that this memorable shot didn't lead to victory.  UK wasted opportunities in the first OT and then ran out of gas in the second.

1/13/09: In a forgettable season, Jodie Meeks saving the day at Tennessee with a MAMMOTH 54-point performance, including 10 threes, will never be forgotten.

3/30/14: Aaron Harrison made a three with 2.3 seconds left to beat Michigan and send 8-seed Kentucky to the Final Four.  Then...

4/5/14: Aaron Harrison does it AGAIN.  He hits one with 5.7 seconds left, bringing UK from down 2 to up 1, defeating Wisconsin and sending them to the National Championship game.  We won't talk about what happened there.

12/18/16: In an early-season heavyweight showdown, another UK star victimized UNC.  This time it was freshman Malik Monk, scoring 47 and hitting 8 of 12 threes, including one to tie with 1:15 left and another to go ahead with 0:17 left.  Wow.  Final score: 103-100.

Three interesting stats from last night's Kentucky-Tennessee game

1) UK shot 54% and UT only 28%.  

The 26% difference is the largest since a 29% advantage against Marist earlier this season.

For a bigger difference in an SEC regular season game, though, you have to go back to January 16th, 2007 when UK won 87-49 at South Carolina, and shot 63% to their 27%.

2) UK won by 25 points while only hitting a single three-point field goal (out of 10 attempts).

Over the years, the Wildcats' streak of games with a made three-pointer has had a number of similarly close calls.  The most recent was the SEC Tournament quarterfinal against Alabama on March 3rd, 2010, when they hit only 1 of 13.  Darnell Dodson hit that three.

The last regular season game with only 1 made three-pointer:
11/29/08 vs WVU (made 1 of 5, won by 11, Jodie Meeks hit the lone three)

The last SEC regular season game with only  1 made three-pointer:
2/12/08 at Vanderbilt (made 1 of 10, lost by 41, Ramel Bradley hit the lone three)

The last time UK made only 1 three-pointer, and won by 25 or more:
12/20/03 vs Indiana (made 1 of 8, won by 39, Kelenna Azubuike hit the lone three)

Finally, to meet all the criteria of last night's game (SEC, regular season, one made three-pointer, won by 25+):
2/1/97 vs Georgia (made 1 of 9, won by 25, Allen Edwards hit the lone three)

3) UK made 24 of 27 free throw attempts (89%).

The last superior performance (with at least 20 attempts) was against Georgia on 2009 Senior Day.  In spite of their ridiculous accuracy at the line (26-28, 93%), UK managed to lose to an atrocious team and assure Billy G of being fired after the season.

Earlier that same season (1/13/09), UK won by 18 at Tennessee in the infamous Jodie Meeks 54 game.  UK was 18 of 20 from the line (90%), with Jodie going 14 for 14.