Marquette's Howard Misses All-Time 3-Point Record by Just 3 Shots

Exactly one week after turning 18 years old, Marquette freshman Markus Howard wrapped up his freshman season in which he hit 82 of 150 three-pointers to finish at 54.67% from long range, the second highest percentage in the history of college basketball.

Howard’s final game was against South Carolina, who ranks as the third best defense in the country according to www.kenpom.com and allows only 30.1% on three-pointers, the eighth best total. Even against that defense he made three 3-pointers in an 11-minute stretch, the last one pulling Marquette to within 62-60 with 11:20 to go in the game. One of top sports writers in the country texted me during the game to simply call Howard’s game “beautiful.” But at that point South Carolina took over.

“We hit a wall at that point in the second half,” Howard said after the game. “They got on a run and they are a great team, a really tough team, and we could not answer.”

The best player on the court, and in fact in the nation according to www.valueaddbasketball.com, was South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell. The senior matched Howard’s 3-6 on 3-pointers as part of a dominant 29-point, 11-rebound, 3-steal, 2-assist, 2-blocked shot game that let South Carolina pull away for a 93-73 win.

The best player in the country won the day as a 6-foot-5 senior making his last run by outplaying the freshman 5-foot-11 best 3-point shooting player in the country.

South Carolina advances to play Duke Sunday. Here are the 10 greatest 3-point shooting in history: