had another rough night shooting from the perimeter and had a hard time shaking a small school that isnt in Division I yet. Not what the Cardinals had in mind on the trip to the d

The Golden State Warriors took the NBA by storm with their willingness to shoot 3-pointers from anywhere, at any time. They won a title, played for another and changed the way teams think about the 3.The precedent was set in college basketball, where current Louisville coach Rick Pitino set the trend and the rest followed.Rick Pitino went to it right away, but everybody else didnt, Villanova coach Jay Wright said. Gradually, everyones realizing the effect and power of that shot.Pitino, then coaching at Providence, embraced the 3-point shot immediately after it was added to college basketball in 1986. The Friars went to the 1987 Final Four behind sharpshooter Billy Donovan and their ability to knock down the 3.Though teams were reluctant to follow suit at first, the 3-point shot became a viable weapon in college basketball. Smaller teams saw it as a way to compete with bigger, more athletic teams, while the teams with big frontcourts like the 3 to help space the court.The percentage of shots taken from the 3-point arc reached an all-time high during the 2015-16 season, with teams combining for 35.4 percent. Three of the four schools that reached the Final Four attempted more than 40 percent of their shots from behind the arc: National champion Villanova (42), Syracuse (42) and Oklahoma (40).Contested 2-point shots dont win games in college or the NBA, said Northern Arizona coach Jack Murphy, an advance scout for the NBAs Denver Nuggets from 2006-09. So I just think youre seeing a lot more teams play smaller or play with more capable 4-men.The trend in the college game makes sense.The NBA 3-point arc is 23 feet, 9 inches from the basket, while the NCAA line is 19-9. The shorter shot is not only easier to make, it broadens the range of players who can hit it.Zone defense is far more prevalent in college, creating opportunities for teams to shoot over the top or work the ball inside and kick out to shooters.College basketball also has a much wider range of talent; a skinny, pure shooter might be able to thrive in the college game, but usually has no shot at playing in the NBA.And theres this: Outscoring your opponent takes a lower shooting percentage from 3-point range than inside the arc.The one thing: One out of three 3s equals one out of two 2s, Arizona coach Sean Miller said. You think about that. If youre a 37 percent 3-point shooter, that doesnt necessarily get anybody excited, but if you take good 3s and you make 37 percent, thats a good shot for your team. Because 1 of 2 from 2, everybody signs up for 50 percent from 2.Its more than just the way the college game is set up. A transformation of skill sets contributed.Almost since the inception of the game, coaches took their biggest players, parked them near the basket and left them there so they could shoot from close range.As the game evolved, so did the aspirations of the biggest players on the court.Instead of just catching the ball in the post and shooting hook shots, they wanted to be ballhandlers and perimeter shooters. These big kids worked on their skills and, after years of resistance, their coaches began to help them.The tallest players often arrived on college campuses with an entirely new cache of skills and coaches embraced it, using their ability to shoot the ball to stretch defenses.Youre seeing a lot more thought put into coaching on the youth level, Murphy said. Theyre putting kids in positions where they can handle the ball and shoot perimeter shots. I mean, the national championship was won by a 3-point-shooting big man. Thats just what youre seeing in the game.That big man was Villanovas Kris Jenkins.The 6-foot-6, 235-pound forward is a bruiser inside, but also has deep range on the perimeter. Last April, he hit one of the most dramatic shots in NCAA Tournament history, pulling up without hesitation for a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 77-74 victory over North Carolina.The Wildcats philosophy wont change with their title defense, either.Im OK with 38 to 40 percent, Wright said. Thats good for us.Based upon the statistics, so are many other coaches.---AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this story.Puma Womens Shoes White .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Puma Womens Shoes 2018 . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. http://www.cheappumawomensshoes.com/ . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Puma Womens Shoes Sale . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Puma Womens Shoes Gold . PETERSBURG, Fla.PHOENIX -- Louisville coach Rick Pitino has played in the most difficult arenas in college basketball. Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina.Hes faced some of the games best guards through the years. Bobby Hurley, John Wall, Sherman Douglass.Never before had he seen a combination like DeWayne Russell and the rowdy Grand Canyon Havocs.Overcoming a dominating performance by Russell and Grand Canyons boisterous student section, No. 14 Louisville escaped with a harder-than-expected, 79-70 win over the Antelopes Saturday night.It made us a much better team tonight, Pitino said. Whether we go to Duke or Kentucky, nothing will be as tough an environment as this.Pitino agreed to this rare road game against a small, private school out of respect for GCU coach Dan Majerle.The Cardinals (7-1) won in a blowout the first game of the series a year ago at home, but faced a much more difficult challenge heading to the desert.Grand Canyons student section is secretly one of the best in college basketball, racing to their seats before the game to create a rave-like atmosphere .The Cardinals knew Russell, the Antelopes blur of a point guard, would be able to score, yet had no way of stopping him, no matter what they did.And as Russell continued to pour in shots on his way to a career-high 42 points, the students known as the Havocs pushed the Antelopes within reach of the biggest win in school history.Ive never seen anything like it, Majerle said. Ive seen some great performances and thats the most amazing thing Ive seen.After struggling to find an offensive rhythm in the first half, Louisville started to find the mark with good passing. The Cardinals hit 17 of 31 shots in the second half and had a 22-point advantage in the paint to pull away.Deng Adel scored 15 points, while V.J. King and Ray Spalding added 14 each for Louisville, which played without 7-foot center Anas Muhmoud (concussion).Our passing was great in the second half, Pitino said. That was the difference.Missing three starters, Grand Canyon (3-4) led Louisville at halftime and kept the Cardinals close until the midpoint of the second half.Russell was the reason.The wisspy 5-foot-11 senior weaved his way through Louisvilles defense despite facing constant traps and double teams, scoring on pull-up jumpers and a pair of 3-pointers for 18 points by halftime.dddddddddddd Russell closed it with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put Grand Canyon up 37-36 at halftime.Russell kept his one-man show rolling in the second half, bringing the crowd to its feet again and again, including a baseline teardrop shot that appeared to float as high as the shot clock.Coach Majerle told me where the traps were going to come from, how they were going to defend me and I just did the best I could to execute the plan, said Russell, who hit 14 of 27 shots.Louisville put together a short run midway through the second half to go up 10 and kept its cushion despite Russells performance.BIG PICTURELouisville had another rough night shooting from the perimeter and had a hard time shaking a small school that isnt in Division I yet. Not what the Cardinals had in mind on the trip to the desert, but there will be plenty for coach Rick Pitino to use in the film room and practice.Grand Canyon schedules games like this -- it also has Duke and Arizona on this seasons schedule -- to gain exposure and experience against big-time programs. The Lopes fell short, but will benefit in the long run.POLL IMPLICATIONSScraping past a the Lopes could cost the Cardinals a few spots in the poll Monday.UNEXPECTED LIFTWith the Cardinals struggling to get any kind of flow offensively in the first half, coach Rick Pitino turned to Matz Stockman.The junior from Norway played a total of 15 minutes through the first seven games, scoring five points. He came alive when given the chance against GCU, scoring 10 points and grabbing three rebounds in the first half.I never I thought Id see the day where Id call timeouts and run plays for him, Pitino said. But thats what happened and he executed it beautifully.UP NEXTLouisville hosts Southern Illinois on Wednesday night.Grand Canyon hosts San Diego State on Wednesday night. ' ' '