Elijah Johnson

To get a better feel for the Kansas men’s basketball team’s long-range tendencies, I consulted CBSsports.com’s shot charts and marked down the location of each three-pointer taken by KU’s five most frequent outside shooters.

Green Xs are made threes, while red Xs are missed threes.

Let’s take a closer look.

Point guards

Elijah Johnson

• Johnson’s made threes are distributed fairly evenly, though his go-to spot appears to be the left-side wing. Half of the senior’s threes have come from that area (10-for-24 shooting, 41.7 percent).

Naadir Tharpe

• Talk about a hot spot. Tharpe thrives on the left side as well, but he’s best just the left of the circle. Tharpe is 8-for-8 in that location this year, but when he moves farther left down the perimeter, he’s 0-for-8. It’s a small sample size but interesting nonetheless.

Shooting guards/wings

Travis Releford

• Releford appears to be most comfortable on the right wing, as he’s made six of nine shots from that location (66.7 percent). Also notice that 21 of Releford’s 36 three-point tries have come from the right side (58 percent). He doesn’t appear to be a fan of shooting from the deep corners, attempting just three shots there while making none.

Andrew White III

• There’s not as much data yet for White, though I do find it interesting that 19 of his 22 three-point attempts have come in four distinct locations. White also appears to like the straight-on shot, as five of his tries have come from that area (only Johnson has more).

Ben McLemore

• Though I would have bet money a couple days ago that a majority of McLemore’s threes were from the corner (doesn’t it seem like that?), the shot chart shows that only four of his made threes have been from there. The deep left corner might even be his most inefficient shot, as he’s just 3-for-12 in that location (25 percent). McLemore actually is best a few steps away from the left corner, where he’s made seven of 10 threes. The freshman doesn’t appear to have a glaring weakness, making a three on nearly every spot around the perimeter.