Make Your Threes
There are not many parts of this game where Howard is going to have the clear advantage. There is however one place where the Bison have an advantage over the opponents in almost every game they play. The Bison average about 75 points per game and run an efficient offense. I know they play in the MEAC, and the Big 12 is obviously a huge step up in competition. No one is going to dispute that but 75 points per game is 75 points per game. Howard scores most of those points by being one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country.
Howard struggled in the championship game of their conference tournament because they had a hard time making threes, and it was especially hard for the three best shooters on the team in Jordan Wood, Elijah Hawkins, and Marcus Dockery. The struggles of those three players were talked about because those players do not usually struggle from deep and if they do they don’t all struggle at the same time.
Hawkins is the starting point guard and he comes into the game 52-110 from deep or 48%. Dockery shoots a little more from outside and is 64-144 for the season for 44%. Wood does not do much of his work inside the arc, as well over half of his shots are from outside. He comes into the game shooting 64-169 which is a 38% clip. They can shoot it from outside and when the Bison are making shots from deep they can stay in any game.
The Bison don’t take a ton of threes but they have fantastic ball movement which usually leads to a lot of open threes. They are athletic on the wings with Jelani Williams and Steve Settle. Williams and Settle can both make threes which means the defense is going to have to stay honest and play them straight up and cover them when they are out on the three-point line. If Howard can make 40 % of their threes like their averages suggest this game could be uncomfortable for a little bit for Kansas. If the Bison struggle as they did against NC State it is going to get ugly. Exploit the one advantage you may have in this game even if it is a little one.