Ohio State's David Lighty is shooting lights out from 3-point range
By Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer
February 27, 2010
Marvin Fong / The Plain Dealer
David Lighty has improved his 3-point touch this year, nailing 42 percent in Big Ten games.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- David Lighty's coach would see him shooting 3-pointers and say the same number to him.
"40."
During preseason practices, Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta said his defensive stopper would always drain his long-distance jumpers, and he'd say it some more.
"40."
What did it mean?
"If he could shoot 40 percent from 3," Matta said, "we'd have a chance to have a really good basketball team."
Lighty had never done it before, never come close really, making 20 percent of his 3-pointers as a freshman (Matta remembers about a two-month drought between makes), just under 33 percent as a sophomore and 26 percent in his injury-shortened 2008-09 season that led to a redshirt and another year of eligibility.
But Friday afternoon, with the No. 9 Buckeyes (22-7, 12-4) a half-game out of the Big Ten lead entering today's game with Michigan, Lighty knew just where he stood: 42.
That's 42 percent from 3-point range in Big Ten games, fifth-best in the conference, for a defensive specialist who, all told, made 28.8 percent of his 3-pointers during his first three years in Columbus.
"My game speaks for itself," said Lighty, a Cleveland native and Villa Angela-St. Joseph grad, not bothered by his defense-first reputation. "I have spurts where I can show my offensive game. It's kind of hard to stop me because I can drive or make the shots or hopefully make my free throws as well. When I do that, I think I help the team much more."
