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BLOOMINGTON – Matt Roth entered the three-point shooting contest at Friday’s Hoosier Hysteria as the favorite.
And Indiana’s sophomore guard, who holds the Illinois high school record for most career three-pointers, didn’t disappoint.
Roth had the best opening round of the six competitors. He reached the finals, which coach Tom Crean declared a tie with freshman Jordan Hulls after each player shot a round using the women’s smaller basketballs.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you come out (to Assembly Hall), this is a special place. It’s easy to get hyped up and shoot the ball well,” Roth said.
“It was a blast. I had been looking forward to it,” he said. “Our guys had a lot of fun with it in the locker room. It’s fun to come out here. We had a great crowd. It’s easy to come out here and shoot in front of people like that.”
Roth made 57 three-pointers last year, two fewer than Devan Dumes for the team lead.
Roth matched a school record with nine three-pointers Jan. 31 against Ohio State. He was 9 for 11 in the game, scoring 29 points.
Roth and Dumes finished tied for first on the team in three-point percentage (37 percent) for players with more than six attempts.
Crean said Roth and Verdell Jones III had made the biggest strides in strength, pointing out that both had gained more than 20 pounds since arriving at IU.
“I’m better preparing myself for what I’m going to face this year as well as what my team is going to face,” said Roth, who is 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds.
Roth went 13 of 42 (31 percent) from the floor in the team’s last seven games, numbers that served as motivation.
“If anything, it made me hungrier, made me want to be in (the gym) more,” Roth said.
Roth also wants to become more effective inside the three-point arc. His first 26 baskets in Big Ten games were three-pointers. He spent a portion of the summer working on a quicker release.
“It’s all about development,” Roth said. “That’s something (Crean) talked to me about after the season. He wanted me to work on it. It’s something I worked on day in and day out in the summer. I feel like it’s improved.”
Roth also believes the team has improved “with all we’ve done, bringing in size and athleticism as well as more depth at guard, and all that experience we gained (last season).”
“We played in six or eight games that came down to the last couple of possessions. Not every team gets that opportunity,” he said. “That’s something we’ve learned and something we’ve carried over into the way we worked in the offseason.”
Note: Indiana will hold a tip-off pep rally at 6 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Henke Hall of Champions, at the north end-zone facility at Memorial Stadium. The event is free and open to the public.
