Aday Mara’s 3-point practice pays off in No. 2 Michigan’s win over Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Aday Mara’s practice shooting 3-pointers finally paid off.

Michigan’s 7-foot-3 center made the first two 3s of his collegiate career on Sunday during the second-ranked Wolverines’ 82-61 victory over Ohio State.

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Mara, a junior from Spain, didn’t attempt a shot beyond the arc in his first two years at UCLA. He missed his first four long-distance shots in Michigan’s first 22 games before finally connecting.

“I’ve been practicing. I don’t want to rush or take bad shots,” said Mara, who had a career-high 24 points. “I saw that I was open and just shot it.”

Mara joins Purdue’s Daniel Jacobsen and Missouri’s Trent Burns as players at least 7-foot-3 to make a 3-pointer in a Division I game this season, according to Sportradar.

However, Mara is only the fourth Division I player at that height since 2002-03 to have at least two in a game. Connor Vanover was the last to do it, with two for Oral Roberts against San Diego State on Feb. 25, 2023.

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Vanover, who also played at California, Arkansas and Missouri, made multiple 3s 28 times over his career. Bol Bol did it four times at Oregon, and Matt Haarms twice with Purdue.

Mara missed his first 3-point shot less than five minutes into the game but then made one from the right wing with 6:14 left in the first half to give Michigan a 29-24 lead as Christoph Tilly defended too late.

“Every NBA scout just took note of that one. Holy cow,” CBS Sports analyst Bruce Pearl said after Mara’s shot.

Mara extended Michigan’s lead to 38-28 two minutes later on a 3-point jumper from the top of the key.

“We’ve spent a lot of time with him working on his 3s. We want that to be a part of his game going forward,” coach Dusty May said. “Sometimes if you just give a guy a little bit of ice cream, then he will eat the broccoli and the protein to get to that point.”

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May noted there were times when Mara might have practiced too much. Before home games, May looked up…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/aday-maras-3-point-practice-220300325.html

Author : JOE REEDY

Publish date : 2026-02-08 22:03:00

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