Sahvir Wheeler is now shooting 41.7% from three on the year

It’s time to give credit where credit is due: Sahvir Wheeler is shooting lights out from three this season, and he’s doing so on solid volume.

Known over the course of his career as a below-average shooter — if not a liability in that regard — the 5-foot-9 point guard closed out his junior campaign by shooting over 40 percent in league play. Mind you, that was after starting the season hitting just 4-23 attempts from deep, good for just 17.4%. And of his makes, the majority came as a result of being left alone on his looks — as the old saying goes, he was open for a reason.

To his credit, though, his shots fell to close out the year. But did teams truly respect him as a shooter? John Calipari said it was a valid question going into the season.

“I told him, ‘You’ve got to be guarded. You can’t be a player out there that’s not being guarded, or you won’t be in. So, you’ve got to be guarded. They’ve got to respect you and your shot,'” the Kentucky head coach said at Media Day. “And he knows that. And he’s in the gym.”

Wheeler’s perspective entering his senior year? His shooting numbers were up overall: “I increased everything,” he said, ranging from his field goal, free-throw and three-point percentages. The latter jumped 10 percent from his sophomore to his junior year.

“There were some struggles mid-season, but you can’t become an elite shooter overnight. It takes work,” Wheeler said back in June. “You’re going to have ups and you’re going to have downs until you get it just right. During the year, tweaking stuff, working with all the coaches, by the end of the year I was really comfortable with it. I was making shots. I’m going to continue building on that and have fun while doing it.”

That’s just offseason chatter, though. How would he respond when the lights came back on and the ball was tipped, especially going into a year with unbelievable expectations following a disappointing finish last March?

How does 41.7% from deep on 2.8 attempts per game sound? Out of 13 games this season, Wheeler has failed to make a 3-pointer just twice (SC State and Yale). He’s knocked down multiple 3-pointers in three games this year and has shot at least 50 percent from deep seven times. He hit both of those marks in Kentucky’s win over LSU, hitting three of four 3-point attempts en route to 11 total points.

His first make came off the catch at the top of the key with five seconds left on the shot clock, slightly contested. The next was off a second-chance look on a kick-out from Oscar Tshiebwe with 6:05 to go in the first half, an area he’s been particularly effective. That’s when he’s able to catch the ball in ready position and lift for set shots with a smooth release. And then his third make was the most important, an off-the-dribble pull-up at the end of the shot clock with four minutes to go, banked in at the buzzer. It was a shot that put Kentucky up six following a brutal stretch of just two made baskets the previous six minutes.

“That was the basketball gods,” Wheeler said after the win. “Their guy hit a bank shot that was so strong I thought it broke the rim. That was the basketball gods doing us a favor, helping me make that shot. It felt good, I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t know if it was going to be a swish or a bank, but it felt good.”

Did he call the bank?

“I did,” he joked.

Wheeler is the most polarizing player on the team by a significant margin. The highs are high and the lows are low, creating an interesting dynamic in regard to his public reception.

Midway through the regular season, though, it’s hard to argue with the shooting results. He’s taking and making them at a solid rate.