Monday, March 14, 2016

Pi Day: state-best 97 3's for XU's No. 14, Wright

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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

NameSchool
97

Morris WrightXavier
79

Adrian RogersSouthern
64

Christavious GillNew Orleans
63

DeAngelo ColemanLSU-Alexandria
63

Malik MorganTulane
61

T.J. CarpenterNicholls State
60

James HarveyMcNeese State
60

Rashard OwensLSU-Shreveport
59

Majok DengLouisiana-Monroe
57

Zeke WoodleyNorthwestern 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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