The Hoosiers attempted just 512 shots from long range, a figure that ranked last in the Big Ten and No. 262 nationally out of 351 teams.
IU converted on just 176 of those attempts, its 34.4 percent clip from behind the line ranking No. 166 in the country.
Exactly half of the Hoosiers’ made 3-pointers came from guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell. The then-sophomore’s 220 3-point attempts set an IU single-season record.
Looking beyond Ferrell, the numbers get ugly. The other 17 Hoosiers shot just 30 percent from deep last season, with only senior Will Sheehey making more than 20 3-pointers.
Only three other returning Hoosiers attempted at least one 3-pointer last season, with then-freshman Troy Williams’ 21 percent shooting leading the pack.
Williams, then-freshmen Stanford Robinson and Collin Hartman combined to shoot just 19 percent from deep last season.
Last season, the lack of a true outside shooting threat allowed opponents to sit back and crowd the paint on defense. This limited the Hoosiers’ ability to create post chances for freshman Noah Vonleh or get clear paths to the rim.
IU’s struggles with outside shooting led to a rash of forced drives to the basket, often ending in missed opportunities.
No major conference team turned the ball over more frequently than IU, and only Northwestern had a higher percentage of its shots blocked.
IU Coach Tom Crean set out to solve that problem during the offseason, adding Nick Zeisloft, James Blackmon Jr., Rob Johnson, Max Hoetzel and Tim Priller for this season.
Zeisloft, a junior guard who transferred from Illinois State this summer, is a career 37-percent 3-point shooter.
Freshman guards Blackmon and Johnson come as consensus top-100 recruits with long-range ability, and freshmen Hoetzel and Priller project as stretch forwards who combine size and outside shooting.
On paper, the additions should alleviate at least some of IU’s struggles from distance last season. Whether that will play out on the court remains to be seen.
With Vonleh now a member of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, the Hoosiers have no real scoring presence on the inside.
Junior Hanner Mosquera-Perea and sophomore Devin Davis are poised to take Vonleh’s minutes, but neither has proven an ability to score consistently. Combined, the two average 4.4 points per game for their careers.
Barring a massive increase in interior scoring from Mosquera-Perea or Davis, opposing defenses will play the opposite of their gameplans from last season.
With no need to double-team a Hoosier in the post, teams will be able to stretch out to the 3-point line in an effort to limit IU’s new sharpshooters.
It’s the paradox Crean finds himself in this season: the better his new marksmen shoot from deep, the less room they will be given to spot up.
Simply put, IU figures to see fewer open looks from behind the line this season. This is where Crean’s new weapons must prove their worth. The Hoosiers will need to make not only open shots, but contested ones as well.
With the season still months away, IU’s most likely starting lineup consists of juniors Ferrell and Mosquera-Perea, sophomores Williams and Robinson and freshman Blackmon.
That backcourt figures to provide plenty of shooting, with Ferrell steady from behind the line and Blackmon poised to become one of the country’s breakout freshmen.
Backcourt shooting shouldn’t be an issue, but for that lineup to avoid last year’s spacing issues, either Robinson or Williams will need to improve on their disastrous shooting campaigns as freshmen.
Williams, who showed flashes of a strong jump shot at the end of last season and vowed on Twitter to make 10,000 shots before the season tips off, is more likely to accomplish this goal.
After the starting five, Crean’s bench should be stocked with shooters. Zeisloft, Hartman, Johnson, Priller and Hoetzel each provide plenty of range.
In their back-to-back Sweet 16 seasons in 2011-12 and 2012-13, the Hoosiers were among the country’s best 3-point shooting teams.
If IU is to return to that winning form, it will have to distance itself from last season’s disastrous shooting and create a threat from deep again.
