AAC Basketball: Biggest strengths/weaknesses of each team in 2021-22

HOUSTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 22: Kyler Edwards #11 of the Houston Cougars is helped off the court by Jamal Shead #1 and J'Wan Roberts #13 after twisting his ankle during the second half against the Texas State Bobcats at Fertitta Center on December 22, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

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AAC Basketball Temple Owls Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

Biggest Weaknesses

East Carolina: Defending the 3-point line

ECU has been average on the defensive end, which is not a knock. The Pirates give up 68.4 points a game and have a 98.4 defensive rating, although they could be better if they didn’t foul as much and defended the 3-point line better.

Eight of the Pirates’ 12 opponents have made at least seven 3-pointers with three teams having drained 10 or more treys. In addition, ECU has held just three of its opponents to under 30% shooting from long distance. Overall, ECU allows 8.3 3-pointers a game on nearly 25 attempts.

Temple: 3-Point Shooting

The Owls are the worst perimeter shooting team in the conference. While Temple averages 6.0 triples a game, the Owls have only made more than six triples once in their last five contests when they sank 14 of 30 attempts against Delaware State in their last outing. The Owls went 3 of 30 from long distance in their loss to UCF in the conference opener for both squads.

Moreover, Battle (3.0 3-pointers) is the only player to can multiple 3-pointers a game. However, Dunn and 6-7 true freshman Zach Hicks has shown improvement from beyond the arc recently.

Houston: Foul-Shooting

The Cougars are one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the nation as they rank 331st in free throw percentage at just 64.4%. Houston averages only 11.5 makes from the charity stripe on nearly 18 free throw attempts a game. J’Wan Roberts, Josh Carleton, Fabian White, and Reggie Chaney are all shooting below 58% from the charity stripe.

Cincinnati: 3-point shooting

The Bearcats rank in the bottom 20% tile in the country in 3-point shooting at 29.23%. Part of the Cats’ problem is shot selection as they make 7.1 treys a game on 24.3 attempts. They have hoisted up 25 or more 3-point shots in six of their first 13 games.

Tulsa: Defense

The Golden Hurricane has struggled on the defensive end. Tulsa ranks 262nd in the nation in defensive efficiency as the Golden Hurricane have allowed their opponents to register an effective field goal percentage of 54.1%, which is the 18th highest in the country.

South Florida: Shooting

The Bulls rank among the bottom 20 teams in the nation in scoring efficiency, field goal percentage, 3-point made, and 3-point percentage with a shooting slash line of .373/.230/.680. Caleb Murphy is the only Bull who is averaging over five shots a game that has made over 40% of his shots.