Community Picks: Wright State 0% vs Oakland 0%

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Max Hooper hit seven 3-pointers which accounted for all of his 21 points and Oakland held on to beat Milwaukee 82-79 on Monday night. Continue to Article

January 25, 2016 11:37:pm EST

ASHWAUBENON, Wis. (AP) -- Kahil Felder scored 29 points with 14 assists as Oakland beat Green Bay 111-95 on Saturday. Continue to Article

January 23, 2016 4:47:pm EST

ROCHESTER, Mich. (AP) -- Jalen Billups had 22 points and eight rebounds, Tyler White added 20 points and made five 3-pointers, and Northern Kentucky pulled away late to beat Oakland 90-73 on Tuesday night. Continue to Article

January 19, 2016 9:33:pm EST

Five weeks into a season in which he has shot threes and only threes, Oakland University's Max Hooper stumbled across an article about his astonishing stat line. Only then did it first dawn on him that he was doing something unusual. Hooper has now attempted 133 shots in 17 games this season, and all 133 of them have come from behind the 3-point arc. To others, that's a statistical oddity. To Hooper, it's just a sign he's embracing his role as a perimeter shooter whose responsibility in Oakland's offense is to knock down threes and space the floor for his teammates. "My job on this team is to get open and shoot the ball," Hooper told Yahoo Sports. "When I'm playing, I'm not thinking, 'Don't shoot a two. Don't shoot a two.' I'm just trying to help my team win, and that's the way it has worked out so far." It's difficult to assess whether another player has ever taken this many 3-pointers in a single season without attempting a shot from inside the arc, but anecdotal evidence suggests it's extremely rare. Only two players who finished the regular season in the top 100 nationally in 3-point attempts the past 10 years shot fewer than 20 two-point shots. Butler guard Bruce Horan attempted 252 3-pointers and 10 shots inside the arc during the 2005-06 season and eight seasons later Creighton forward Ethan Wragge hoisted 220 deep balls and tried only seven twos. Whether Hooper's one-dimensional approach is unprecedented or not, there's no reason for him to alter it. The 3-point specialist has sunk 45.1 percent of his attempts from behind the arc this season. Oakland scores an efficient 1.12 points points per possession this season, but when Hooper is one of the five players on the floor, that number leaps to 1.30, which would easily surpass every other team in the nation. "Max is playing with such confidence," Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. "He honestly believes he's the best shooter in the country every time he steps onto the floor, and we try to foster that. We want him to be the cockiest guy in the world, to think that if he has a bow and arrow he could put a blindfold on and shoot the apple off my head." It has taken a special set of circumstances for Hooper to make it through half a season without attempting a two-point shot. You need a player with an incredible knack for outside shooting and a keen awareness of his strengths and limitations. And you need a coach whose system demands a catch-and-shoot specialist with the confidence to fire away when given even an inch of space. The way Kampe sees it, the presence of an elite shooter like Hooper removes a defender from the floor and almost allows his offense to go 4-on-4. If Hooper's man stays glued to him behind the 3-point arc, it creates more space for star point guard Kahlil Felder to attack the rim off the dribble or for Oakland's big men to score in the post. If Hooper's man helps elsewhere or lags behind chasing him off screens, he's leaving one of the nation's most lethal 3-point shooters free. Continue to Article

January 15, 2016 1:24:pm EST