2017 challengers for the 50-40-90 Club in college basketball
Luke Kennard – Duke
(51.9 FG% – 46.1 3P% – 84.8 FT%)
And for the first of our not-quite 50-40-90 candidates: a look at Duke’s Luke Kennard, who’s been putting up an incredible season. Check out his shot chart to date, which is missing just the Penn State, UNLV, and Boston College games.
He’s been lighting the field on fire this year. Despite taking about 80 percent of his field goal attempts as jumpers (per hoop-math numbers), he’s currently shooting 51.9 percent from the field. That mark includes a 46.1 percent mark from three, and — per the shot chart above — a 54 percent mark on all mid-range jumpers more than five feet from the basket. It’s a staggering achievement of shooting efficiency.
The best part is that he’s been doing a lot of it on his own; per hoop-math’s numbers, just 20 percent or so of his 2-point makes have been assisted. And he’s also pulling secondary creation duty, as his 74 assists rank second on the team behind Grayson Allen. Kennard’s been the best, steadiest player for a Duke team that has had more than its share of ups and downs.
The only thing holding him back is his free throw percentage, which is currently sitting at 84.9 percent. It’s a tough hill to climb.
Duke’s got three regular season games left, plus whatever they see in the conference tournament and NCAAs. At his current average of five free throw attempts per game, he’d need to play ten more games and hit every single free throw to jump past 90 percent.