NEW ORLEANS — It's Pi Day, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant Π (pi). The first three figures of pi — the ratio of a circle's circumference to diameter — are 3, 1, and 4: 3.14.
It's a great day to work Xavier University of Louisiana's Morris Wright into the equation.
The senior guard from Zachary, La., leads Louisiana men's college basketball in made 3-pointers this season with 97 — 18 more than his nearest rival. That's a lot of 3's for a student-athlete who wears No. 14 on his jersey.
Wright — a three-time first-team All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference selection and a former Zachary High School and Baton Rouge Community College standout — will get another chance to add to his total when the Gold Rush (21-12) play Lewis-Clark State (28-4) at 8 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
2015-16 Louisiana Men's College Basketball:
Leaders in Made 3-Pointers
| Made 3's | Name | School | |
| 97 | Morris Wright | Xavier | |
| 79 | Adrian Rogers | Southern | |
| 64 | Christavious Gill | New Orleans | |
| 63 | DeAngelo Coleman | LSU-Alexandria | |
| 63 | Malik Morgan | Tulane | |
| 61 | T.J. Carpenter | Nicholls State | |
| 60 | James Harvey | McNeese State | |
| 60 | Rashard Owens | LSU-Shreveport | |
| 59 | Majok Deng | Louisiana-Monroe | |
| 57 | Zeke Woodley | Northwestern State |
More notes about Wright's perimeter performance:
• Wright's 97 3's are tied for second on Xavier's all-time season list — Mark Stewart made 109 in 2006-07 and 97 in 2007-08 — and Wright's 214 career 3's are second at XU behind Stewart's 299.
• Among Louisiana players with 40 or more attempts, Wright ranks third in 3-point accuracy this season at .424 (97-of-229). The leader is LSUA's Coleman at .447 (63-of-141). Louisiana's two most prolific 3-point makers this season also are among the most accurate.
• Wright has an active streak of 40 games making at least one 3-pointer. The last time Wright was shut out was Feb. 14, 2015, at Philander Smith (four attempts). Since then Morris is 114-of-268 (.425) from behind the arc, with 2.85 made 3's per game and three-or-more 3's 22 times.
• Wright is XU's career leader in 3-point accuracy at .424 (214-of-505).
• Wright's single-game high for made 3's is six against Edward Waters on Jan. 24, 2015. Eight times he has made five 3's in a game. The XU game record for made 3's is eight, set by Percy Bland against Louisiana College on Feb. 23, 1989, and tied by Stewart against Mobile on March 7, 2008.
• Wright is 8-of-14 in two games at nationals. He was 4-of-6 against Hope International in 2014 and 4-of-8 against Mid-America Christian in 2015. Stewart (6) and Shaun Dumas (5) were the last XU players to make more than four 3's in a game at nationals. Both did it against Northwestern Oklahoma in the 2007 second round.
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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