Last season, LSU had two free throw shooters over 70 percent in guard Andre Stringer and forward Shavon Coleman. But with the pair gone from the Tigers’ program, new players must step up and fill these shoes.
Combined, returning players on the LSU roster have an average free throw percentage of 55. Sophomore forward Jordan Mickey leads returners with 91 free throws made on 131 attempts, a 70 percent clip.
As a squad, the Tigers made 473 free throws on 707 attempts from the line. This 67 percent shooting placed LSU at 273rd nationally in free throw percentage. With six games in the 2013-14 season decided by eight points or less, the 234 points the Tigers missed out on could have changed the course of many of these games.
“You look through the course of the season when you see games that are three or four point games,” said LSU head coach Johnny Jones. “You go back and look at the stat sheet and see the number of free throws you may have missed, and it certainly could have been the difference in the basketball game.”
Sophomore forward Jarell Martin hit 62 of 90 free throws last season for 69 percent, just one percent behind Mickey. Sophomore guard Tim Quarterman and senior forward John Odo both had percentages of 55.
In his third season with the Tigers, Jones looks at improving on not only LSU’s 2013-14 season but also the free throw numbers. In his tenure as head coach at North Texas, the Mean Green were No. 1 in the nation in free throws made per game two separate times in 2009 and in 2011.
“At North Texas we led the nation in free throws made per game for two years,” Jones said. “And the third year we came in second. It’s because we had guys that were capable of stepping up to the line.”
With the new transfers and recruits for the 2014-15 season, players must close the gap at the free throw line left by Stringer and Coleman.
In his two seasons at UNC-Asheville, transfer and junior guard Keith Hornsby put up impressive free throw numbers. As a freshman in the 2011-12 season, Hornsby made 21 free throws on 33 attempts for 64 percent.
The stats from his freshman season would have put him fifth on the Tigers’ roster in free throw percentage for the 2013-14 season. His next season, however, he excelled in free throws. Hornsby went 99 for 107 from the free throw line. It was a near perfect performance at 93 percent, putting him second in the country in free throw percentage.
Fellow junior guard Josh Gray is also a transfer for the 2014-15 season who put up solid free throw numbers at his old school. At Odessa College, Gray finished with a 71 free throw percentage, making 199 of 282 free throws.
The addition of the two could be beneficial for the Tigers this season and close the gap between LSU and the rest of the country in free throw shooting.
“Just the other day we were going through a free throw shooting segment at the end of practice that we do each session, and I think Hornsby wound up going 50 for 53 at the line,” Jones said. “I think Josh Gray was 50 for 54, and we had some other guys that shot big numbers. And that’s a big plus for you when you have good free throw shooters.”
You can reach Michael Haarala on Twitter @haarala_TDR.