Alex Barcello was on fire at Firestone Fieldhouse last Saturday.
In BYU’s 91-85 victory at Pepperdine, the senior guard recorded one of the best 3-point shooting performances in school history.
Barcello, who had made just 2 of 12 3-pointers during his previous two games, buried 9 of 10 from 3-point range against the Waves and finished with a career-high 33 points.
Where does that performance rank compared to past BYU players?
Well, his 90% from 3 was the highest percentage among the others that made at least nine in a single game.
Notably, all of these performances happened away from the Marriott Center.
Chase Fischer had the most 3-pointers, when he drilled 10 of 13 against Chaminade at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 25, 2014, in a 121-85 victory at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Nick Emery also knocked down 10 3-pointers, going 10 of 12 at San Francisco on Feb. 11, 2016, in a 114-89 triumph. Emery finished with 37 points, setting the single-game scoring record by a freshman, eclipsing Danny Ainge’s 36 in 1977-78.
However, due to NCAA sanctions related to Emery and BYU, those statistics have been vacated by the NCAA.
Of course, consensus All-American Jimmer Fredette makes this list. As a junior, Fredette hit 9 of 13 from 3-point territory at Arizona on Dec. 9, 2009. Fredette poured in 49 points, which broke the school record for single-game scoring at that time. Fredette shattered that record the following season with a 52-point performance against New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
In that win at Arizona, the Cougars handed the Wildcats their worst loss in the history of the McKale Center. It was a game in which Fredette started to earn national attention that would only accelerate during his senior campaign.
Fischer appears on this list again for his 9 of 14 3-point shooting exhibition on Dec. 23, 2015, in a 96-66 win over New Mexico at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, a year after what he did in Maui.
There was just something about Fischer when playing in tournaments in Hawaii.
And then last Saturday, Barcello etched his name in the BYU record books.
“It was the most efficient 33 points I’ve ever seen in my life,” said coach Mark Pope, referring to Barcello’s 12 total shots. “I’ve never seen a game like that ever.”
Barcello thanked his teammates for helping him accomplish that feat.
“They’re so great. They kept telling me to keep shooting. They know my mindset,” he said. “I’m not a guy that likes to force shots, but if the shot’s there and it’s a good shot, I’ll shoot it. They kept finding me.”
But it wasn’t the first time Barcello has set a school record. Last season, he became the only Cougar to make 7 of 7 3-pointers in a game, as the Cougars beat San Francisco 79-73. Barcello ended up with 29 points, which was his career-high before last Saturday.
In January, ESPN’s “College GameDay” analyst Jay Bilas said, “Alex Barcello is the best shooter in the country. He’s the best shooter.”
Pope couldn’t have agreed more with Bilas’ assessment.
“I mean, he’s just stating facts. We’ve banged out the numbers a billion times. The stats that declare conclusively that Alex Barcello is the best shooter in the country, they’re everywhere,” Pope said. “There’s only one player in the country over the last three years that has shot over 45% from the 3-point line.
“There might not even be a shot minimum to that. So you could go down the list. I was glad that Jay said it because the world should know. Just watch what he did … the shots he’s making are so difficult right now. He’s done it with such consistency for three straight years.”
At Firestone Fieldhouse, Barcello proved once again just how great a shooter that he is.