20 and counting? How Purdue's Daniel Jacobsen views his consecutive field goal streak: "It's crazy"

What’s lasted five games, stretching over nearly three weeks and approximately 71 minutes of playing time?

Daniel Jacobsen’s program-record 20 consecutive field goals.

It started on Nov. 16 with a 3-pointer against Akron and remained intact through Tuesday’s victory at Rutgers. Can Jacobsen continue to add to the mark on Saturday when top-ranked Purdue hosts No. 10 Iowa State at Mackey Arena?

In the team’s last home game against Eastern Illinois on Black Friday, the 7-foot-4 sophomore surpassed the previous record of 15 straight field goals set by George Faerber in the final three games of the 1970-71 season. Faerber made a single-game record 12 consecutive field goals, including 11 in a row in the first half, against Iowa on March 13, 1971.

“It’s crazy. I didn’t even realize that’s what it was until they posted about it,” Jacobsen said prior to the Boilermakers playing the Scarlet Knights in the Big Ten opener. “It’s a lot around the basket, and I think there’s two 3s in there. At least I got that going for me.”

The NCAA record for consecutive made field goals is 30 by Yale’s Brandon Sherrod in a five-game stretch during the 2015-16 season.

Here’s the breakdown:

• He missed his first field goal attempt against Akron but made the last four.

• In the Bahamas, Jacobsen was a combined 7 of 7 against Memphis and Texas Tech.

• In the aforementioned Eastern Illinois victory, Jacobsen connected on eight straight field goals and scored a career-high 24 points.

• Against Rutgers, Jacobsen made his only attempt to extend the streak to 20.

“I hadn’t thought about it,” said Jacobsen, who started the season 9 of 19 before the streak began and is now shooting 74.4%. “I realized after (Eastern Illinois) game I was 8-for-8, and that’s pretty good.”

During his consecutive field goal streak, Purdue has outscored its opponents by 55 points with Jacobsen on the floor. He’s also registered 13 blocked shots since the streak started.

“He still has four post moves, and that’s what we get excited about,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said earlier this week. “Him wanting the ball, demanding the ball. We need to get the ball to him more. You’re obviously taking shots you can make.

“Sometimes guys will shoot a high percentage, and then they just think, ‘Oh, I can just take any other shot’. Now they start taking shots that have nothing to do with the (20).”

Jacobsen has reached 20 straight field goals through four different shots, according to the descriptions from the official play-by-play statistics:

Dunks	9
Jumpers	7
3-pointers	2
Layups	2

The lob passes, mainly from assist machine Braden Smith, have become a lethal offensive weapon. It’s virtually unstoppable due to Jacobsen’s height and Smith’s ball placement.

“Our guys have done a good job of getting him the ball and keeping the ball high on lobs,” Painter said. “People don’t understand that when they take (the lob threat) away, it gives us space because they’re going back with him. The guy with the ball can drive the basketball deeper.

“He has more room to play, and those things really help. It’s not just the benefit of him catching those lobs and getting dunks, it’s also them taking that away and then helping the efficiency of our offense.”

From his position on the block, Jacobsen sees the spacing open up, creating opportunities and avenues for his teammates.

“I could draw help and then (Fletcher Loyer) gets a wide open 3 or passing with the post, and I can kick out all kinds of different stuff,” Jacobsen said. “Maybe they help off the roll, and Braden finds his shot. That really helps us, me and Oscar (Cluff), both playing hard, rolling hard, getting our teammates involved.”