Kerr's stats prove anything can happen

Basketball on the NCAA’s biggest stage does strange things to even the most cool of customers.

Arizona point guard Steve Kerr was a 55 percent career shooter. But in his seven NCAA Tournament games as a Wildcat, he shot 24 of 62 — or 39 percent. Kerr set the NCAA record for 3-point accuracy in 1988 by making 57 percent of his 3’s. But he shot 12 for 32 (38 percent) from 3-point distance in his NCAA Tournament career. Kerr departed Arizona shooting 2 for 13 afield in the Final Four against Oklahoma.

Point guard Damon Stoudamire, who I consider the second-best player behind Sean Elliott in school history, similarly struggled in the tournament.

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Stoudamire shot 40 for 118 (34 percent) afield in eight NCAA games. His UA career accuracy was 45 percent. Stoudamire made just 26 percent of his 3-point shots in the NCAAs, far below his career average of 41 percent. He was 5 for 24 from the field in the 1994 Final Four against Arkansas and, gulp, 0 for 7 in the painful 1993 first-round loss to 15th-seeded Santa Clara.

And that’s not all. In the 2001 national championship game, Arizona guards Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas shot a combined 0 for 12 from 3-point distance in a loss to Duke. And Salim Stoudamire was just 2 for 13 from the field in a stinging 2005 Elite Eight loss to Illinois.