Living in Carolina wrote:Actually 35% from 3 would be reasonable goal for the group with the new distance this year. With the shorter distance last year the highest team average in Div 1 was 42%. a 35% would have made the game more competitive and the biggest differential would be if they could shoot free throws consistently near 80% as a team. Not getting the foul calls is only amplified as a problem when you can't hit the free throw when they do get called. Overall for a first game against a team that had already played a competitive top game and is likely to be a top 50 program this year it was not as bad a performance as it might have been. Defense needs the most work after the shooting practice going forward. Clemson will be a good test to see improvement and the atmosphere should not be a shock as Clemson is still focused on football at this time of year.
An 80% team free throw shooting percentage is a pretty high standard. The National Basketball Association average free throw shooting percentage has been constant at about 75% since 1958 according to one source I just checked; the NCAA average free throw shooting percentage has been constant at roughly 69%. The best D1 free-throw shooting performance this century came from Wisconsin in 2011 (81.8%).