Behind The Success Of Notre Dame's Free-Throw Shooting
Get to the the free-throw line. Make the shot. For Notre Dame, it’s a recipe for success.
It was a major reason the Irish outlasted Iowa on Tuesday. Notre Dame 30 of its 33 free-throw attempts against the Hawkeyes in the 92-78 victory. Iowa, meanwhile, was 12-of-16.
“It’s an unbelievable weapon, it really is,” head coach Mike Brey said after the game.
Notre Dame ranks second in the country in free-throw percentage, making 84.5 percent of its attempts during a 7-0 start.
Though that number is likely to come down a bit as the Irish enter tough road environments in Atlantic Coast Conference play, it’s still likely to be one of the best marks in Brey’s 17 seasons in South Bend.
The past two seasons have trended in this direction. In 2014-15, Notre Dame made 74.2 percent of its 756 attempts, which ranked 27th in the country. Last season the Irish were 34th, also making 74.2 percent of their 671 attempts.
This year, Notre Dame is the only team in the country with three players ranked in the top-50 in free-throw percentage. No other team has two players in the top-10.
Junior point guard Matt Farrell is tied for first in Division I with a perfect mark at the line, starting the season 21-for-21.
Senior guard Steve Vasturia is ranked tied for ninth at 95.2 percent (20-for-21).
Junior forward Bonzie Colson is in a tie for 39th at 90.9 percent (40-for-44). His 44 attempts are 70th-most in the country.
“We’ve just realized how much of a key it can be for us. Not only down the stretch in games and winning games, but just a great weapon for us,” senior wing V.J. Beachem said. “To get to that line a lot and to knock them down is free and easy points for us. We’ve got to try and make the most of them.”
Brey said the key is that his players know when to attack and get to the free-throw line.
“The thing is we get there, too,” Brey said. “We have a feel for the game, when we get to the bonus, we start driving a little more. We talk about it, let’s starting driving it. We had a couple key free throws on just strong rebounds where they reacted and kind of hit our guys. It’s a heck of a way to build in a game where maybe you’re not shooting it as well.”
Brey hasn’t built his offense to get to the free throw line. In fact, Notre Dame ranks 149th in the country in attempts. That is balanced by a strong outside shooting attack that ranks 74th in the country in 3-point attempts (170 attempts, 40.6 percent).
Beachem — who has made 82.1 percent of his 28 attempts — has made a significant improvement over last season. Beachem hit just 57.4 percent of his free throws in 2015-16
“Last year I just got off to a slow start and it just stuck in my head, like, ‘Wow, I’m actually missing free throws,’” Beachem said. “My entire life I’ve been a pretty good free throw shooter, so it just got into my head a little last year and this year I’ve started off shooting pretty well. It’s a lot different in my mind.”
Entering Sunday’s game against North Carolina A&T at Purcell Pavilion, only senior forward Austin Torres is under .500 for the season, making just one of his four attempts.
The performance against Iowa would have been more impressive if not for two misses by junior forward Martinas Geben — he is now 3-for-6 this year.
Beachem said the team’s performance from the free-throw line will carry throughout the season.
“That’s one thing you can take on the road with you,” Beachem said. “Your defense and your free throw shooting. They’re free and easy points, and we’ve been doing a great job of capitalizing on them so far and that’s something we’ll continue to do.”
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