Big East Basketball: Predicting statistical leaders for 2019-20

Field Goal Percentage

Pick: SR Tyrique Jones, Xavier

Dark Horse: JR Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, Villanova

Last year: Zach Hankins (68.6 percent)

With Hankins moving on after one season in Cincinnati, he’ll be passing the field goal percentage torch to his former teammate in Jones. The Musketeer vet has shot above 60 percent in all three years of his career, including 62 percent on seven shots per game last season, and 67 percent during Xavier’s 10-game hot streak to conclude the 2018-19 campaign. Three-quarters of Jones’ attempts came at the rim last year; he rarely stretches himself outside the paint, making him the perfect candidate for a league-leading field goal mark.

Of the Big East’s top-15 field goal percentage leaders last year, only 7 remain in the conference. Jones, LeBlanc, and Providence’s Nate Watson are the FG percentage favorites, with Cosby-Roundtree lingering as a dark horse candidate should he earn enough attempts to qualify. DCR has nailed an absurd 70 percent of his shots from the field for his career.

Three-Point Percentage

Pick: SR Sean McDermott, Butler

Dark Horse: JR Mitch Ballock, Creighton

Last year: Zegarowski (42.6 percent)

Selecting the right 3-point percentage leader is all about finding a marksman who is semi-limited in his attempts. Howard is the most dangerous shooter in the conference, and possibly the nation, but his three-point degree of difficulty and volume will keep his percentages in the low 40s (he shot 55 percent when he attempted a much more judicious 4.8 treys per game as a freshman).

Butler’s McDermott is right in that sweet spot of accuracy and caution. He is a career 41 percent 3-point shooter, and while he has upped his attempts with each season (5.5 last year), it’s hard to envision him moving into permanent heat check mode à la Howard or Powell.

Ballock is more of a chucker than McDermott, and he can be a bit streaky, but I could also see him riding a month-long heater where he nails over half of his threes. He might not be the best shooter in the Big East, but he is certainly one of those guys where your heart skips a beat if he is left wide open on the wing. If the Creighton perimeter players are as good as advertised, Ballock will also be able to operate with a ton of space.

Free Throw Percentage

Pick: Howard

Dark Horse: JR Collin Gillespie, Villanova

Last year: Sam Hauser (92.4 percent)

Howard is a 90 percent free throw shooter for his career – including 94 percent in 2017-18. He likely would’ve have pushed that mark as a junior as well had he not shot 18-for-24 from the line in the Big East semifinals against Seton Hall when he was clearly nursing a wrist injury.

Butler’s Kamar Baldwin finished third behind Hauser and Howard last year at 85 percent, but after shooting in the mid-70s for his first two seasons, I would expect some slight regression there. Gillespie has hit 83 percent of his charity stripe attempts for his career, and does not get to the line a ton (just 93 total free throws last season). The Villanova guard could realistically go 90-100 from the stripe for the season to edge out Howard, who will likely attempt around 250 free throws.