Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury has given Jake Ohmer “the total green light” to fire away with 3-pointers. Some of those shots come from a little farther away than others.

“I didn’t realize he pulled up behind the IGA sign during the (Wright State) game,” Stansbury said Friday, referencing a spot on the E.A. Diddle Arena floor about 30 feet from the basket. “He made it.”

The freshman guard Ohmer is WKU’s most prolific 3-point shooter. He’s buried a team-best 16 triples this season, coming at a 47.1 percent clip – including that deep one Saturday against the Raiders.

“It wasn’t hard for him to shoot it from 30 feet,” Stansbury said. “It came out of there naturally. That’s kind of the way he is.

“He’s not a guy that has to be up on that 3-point line to get it off. It comes out of his hand the same way, that same tightness every time. Those elbows are tight and it’s a quick release.”

Ohmer’s teammates have also burned it up from the outside. Guard Darius Thompson has nailed 13 3-pointers, shooting 39.4 percent from deep.

Guard Taveion Hollingsworth has hit 10, and leads the team with a 50 percent mark from beyond the arc. Guard Lamonte Bearden and forward Justin Johnson have buried six 3-pointers each, shooting 37.5 percent and 35.3 percent, respectively, on such shots.

“I think everyone’s willing to get better,” the redshirt junior Bearden said. “Everyone’s in the gym and willing to put in the work. It’s shown. We’re shooting the ball really well.”

3-point shooting is a key reason the Hilltoppers are 6-2 and have won four straight games.

WKU shot 5-of-8 from deep in the first half Nov. 23 against then-No. 18 Purdue, building a 42-31 halftime lead in a Battle 4 Atlantis matchup. The Tops went on to a 77-73 upset victory.

Ohmer sparked WKU’s strong first half that night in Imperial Arena. The 6-foot-1 guard from Taylor Mill hit three early 3s, despite Purdue coach Matt Painter warning his Boilermakers not to forget about him.

“I told our guys, I said, ‘Do not leave him,’ ” Painter said after that game. “‘Do not let him shoot. He averaged 29 points in high school.’ I went through the whole thing about him. …

“Guys like that can help you win a lot of basketball games.”

Ohmer drained a corner 3 in the final seconds the next night against Southern Methodist, lifting the Hilltoppers to a 63-61 win in their Battle 4 Atlantis finale.

Then last week, WKU shot 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from downtown in an 83-51 rout Nov. 29 of Eastern Kentucky, and 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) in a 78-60 handling Dec. 2 of Wright State.

The freshmen guards Hollingsworth and Ohmer led WKU with three 3-pointers apiece against the Colonels, while the graduate senior guard Thompson hit another three of them against the Raiders.

“Taveion has made some shots and Darius has gotten better, now,” Stansbury said Friday. “‘Te has made some. So we’ve got some different guys who have the ability to make them.”

As a team, WKU shoots 41.9 percent from 3-point range, which ranks No. 21 nationally of 351 Division I teams. That includes a night where it posted a 4-of-17 effort Nov. 15 in an 83-53 win against Division II school Kentucky Wesleyan.

Take out that game against KWC, and the Toppers are hitting 44.9 percent from 3-point range against D-I foes. That percentage against D-I opponents ranks No. 3 nationally, per KenPom.com, behind only Evansville (48.7) and Virginia Tech (45.6).

WKU has done all that without Jordan Brangers, who was expected to be the Hilltoppers’ top 3-point threat this season.

Brangers hit 151 3-pointers last year at South Plains (Texas) College, breaking the program’s single-season record previously held by former Mississippi star Marshall Henderson. He returned to South Plains in the preseason after not meeting transfer requirements.

“If you told me we’d be a (41.9)-percent shooting team before the season, I probably would’ve taken it,” Stansbury said. “We felt like we probably lost our best perimeter shooter when he never got in school. I think we’ve gotten better.”

WKU’s 3-point shooting success has coincided with effective ball movement and intelligent shot selection.

WKU’s taken 27.1 percent of its shots from 3-point range in games against D-I opponents, a ratio that ranks No. 335 nationally, per KenPom.

Rather than jacking up contested shots from beyond the arc, Stansbury’s Toppers have looked for shots at the rim or passed the ball around to open shooters.

WKU’s posted positive assist-to-turnover margins over three of its last four games, including a 24-to-6 ratio – best in recorded school history – against Eastern Kentucky. The Virginia transfer Thompson has posted 14 assists vs. zero turnovers over the last two games, and 25 assists vs. three turnovers over the last five.

“It has a lot to do with being able to make that extra pass and getting someone in a rhythm,” forward Marek Nelson said. “It’s a lot easier when guys are making those passes not only at the right time but on point, so it’s easy to catch and shoot. It’s all about rhythm for a shooter.”

Up Next

WKU plays its first true road game Sunday at Ohio. Tipoff from the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio, is set for 1 p.m. CST, with the game to be televised by ESPN3.

The Hilltoppers are 4-1 all-time against the Bobcats (4-4) and beat them 67-66 last season in Bowling Green.{&end}