Utes too infatuated with 3-point shot

Utah’s victory over Air Force Wednesday night wasn’t a thing of beauty by any means. The Falcons shot horrendously, from the field (23.6 percent), from 3-point range (10.5 percent and from the foul line (58.3 percent).
The Utes didn’t shoot well from the field either, making just 37 percent of their field goals and 25 percent from 3-point range. Thankfully for them, the Utes made 17 of 18 free throws and dominated the boards, outrebounding the smaller Falcons 44 to 23.
Utah’s 6-for-24 shooting from 3-point range came on the heels of a 6-for-23 performance in the previous game against San Diego State. That means over the past two games, the Utes are an abysmal 12-for-47, 25.5 percent from 3-point range.
Having watched all but one game this year, I feel like the Utes have become too infatuated with the 3-point shot. The Utes have some great 3-point shooters, but they haven’t been hitting them lately and it seems like they are settling for 3-pointers at the expense of getting the ball into Luke Nevill. I realize it’s hard to do sometimes with two or three guys draped all over him. But the guy is 7-foot-2 for crying out loud. He needs more than the 11 shots he’s gotten in the past two games combined.
Looking at the numbers, Utah is shooting slightly fewer 3-pointers this year, despite the added foot to the arc, 18.2 compared to 18.6 per game last year. However, they’re making just 34.5 percent, five percent worse than last year.
The Utes need to keep firing up 3-pointers to open things up more for Nevill in the middle. But 23 or 24 a game seems like too many — at least until they start falling again.