Ahead of the 2023-24 season, one thing Mike Rhoades never considered his team would struggle with was consistent three-point shooting.

However, 17 games into the season, Penn State men’s basketball is shooting 29.9% from beyond the arc and hovering at 24.7% through the last five games.

“I really thought we’d be a 35% shooting team. Overall I really did,” Rhoades said Monday. “I thought we’d have some guys in the high 30s. Maybe even 40s. I liked to say sooner or later the dam’s going to break, and we’re going to shoot 12 or 13 in a game. We’re waiting, and we’ll see.”

Shooting 12 or 13 triples in a game hasn’t been easy for the Nittany Lions who’ve shot 12 or more threes in a game only twice this season. Because of the recent lack of success from three-point land, it’s caused Penn State to fumble leads and competitive games due to the inability to shoot with their opponents.

In losses to Purdue and Michigan State, the blue and white made three triples in each contest, including an abysmal 3-29 from deep against the Spartans.

“We’re not making enough threes to really cause damage on the offensive end,” Rhoades said. “When they hit a three, we came down and took a real quick shot. It’s got to be more efficient.”

The recent slump isn’t due to one player in particular, but the team as a whole. Kanye Clary is the only player who is shooting 38% or better in at least 15 games played, and Jameel Brown is shooting 41.2%. Brown, though, has only played in 11 games due to an injury.

Six players are shooting under 30%, most notably Zach Hicks. Hicks has released the most attempts by far, 92, while only converting 27 triples. Hicks’ main role on the team was clutch three-point shooting, but he’s yet to fall into place.

“Ace [Baldwin] and [Clary] are taking the most shots because they’re playing the most minutes, and the balls in their hands the most,” Rhoades said. “And the one thing that I talked about a lot of times is the quality of shots, right? The right guy shooting the right shot at the right time.”

Baldwin and Clary are making ends meet where they can, but it’s up to sharpshooters like Hicks, Leo O’Boyle, and Puff Johnson to find their rhythm at the arc to keep the Nittany Lions in games.