Filed a story on Maryland‘s free throw shooting a little bit ago, and had a couple interesting numbers of note.
One, Maryland is averaging just 18.4 free throws a game. If that holds up, it would be the Terps’ lowest number since trying exactly 18 foul shots a game since 1973-74.
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So those concerns about not getting to the foul line enough? They’re not simply imagined.
But here’s an interesting twist. Because Maryland is so good on its foul shots —- 78.9 percent —- its overall production at the line isn’t down that much from last year.
A season ago, Maryland shot 70.3 percent from the line and had 21.4 attempts on an average night. That comes out to 15.04 converted free throws.
With three-fifths of the regular season in the books, Maryland’s 78.9 percent shooting coupled with 18.4 attempts spits out an average of 14.52 conversions.
So the Terps are giving up a half-point a night compared to last year. But they’ve surrendered a whole lot more layups and dunks as well, and that by itself provides all the impetus necessary to take advantage of the team’s one obvious strength over the final dozen games of the regular season.
—- Patrick Stevens
