Some freshmen are just looking to make it into the team’s rotation in their first year on campus. Others are looking to get a starting spot. Auburn’s Jordan Price has his sights set on something else: the NCAA’s consecutive made three-pointers record.
The 6-5 native of Decatur, Ga., has hit 11 straight over his last three games, four shy of the record 15 in a row hit by Northwestern’s Todd Leslie in 1990. Price went 4-of-4 from behind the arc in back-to-back games, wins over Grambling State and Furman, then posted a 3-of-3 night from three in a win over Tennessee Tech on Tuesday.
''He has been shooting the ball unbelievable,’' Auburn coach Tony Barbee told the AP. ''As a scorer whenever you get on a roll like that, you get in that zone, and he is in one of those zones right now. He has been working hard in practice, and it has been paying off in the games.’'
Before his streak began on Dec. 11, Price hadn’t been shooting the ball particularly well from three-point range, having gone 8-of-23. Now three games in, he’s shooting 55 percent from distance on the year and is averaging 7.7 points in a modest 16.5 minutes per game.
“I really don’t believe that I am a 3-point shooter,’' said Price, who was praised more for his athleticism by scouts as a Top 100 prospect from the Class of 2012. ''I can shoot. It’s just a blessing that I haven’t missed. I’ve been settling for the 3 because I’m open. I can hit the mid-range shot and get to the basket. If they just tell me to keep shooting, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Price has already tied the 20-year-old SEC record of 11, set by Vanderbilt’s Kevin Anglin. His next chance to break that record and go for the NCAA mark will be Saturday when Auburn takes on Winthrop.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_