Mark Pope wants more 3-pointers from Andrew Carr: 'That is something we're working on.'

Mark Pope desperately wants to get his team’s three-point shot attempts up. Kentucky takes 27.5 shots from long range per outing, which ranks 52nd in the country, but Pope has long been aiming to surpass the 30-shot attempt mark. An easy way to help fix that? Having Andrew Carr cut out some of his shot fakes and replace them with, well, actual shots.

“That is something we’re working on,” Pope said during his radio show on Monday night. “We would like him to be more aggressive from the three-point line.”

The Big Blue Nation would likely all agree, too. Carr has been hesitant all season when it comes to firing off shots from deep. He’s turned down more “clean” looks than you can count on two hands. The shot fake is easily scoutable at this point. At 6-foot-11, Carr’s ability to spread the floor is key to Pope’s offense, but that means he has to actually shoot the ball.

Carr is squeezing off just 1.5 three-pointers per game, the second-lowest mark of his career and the fewest since he was a sophomore at Delaware. His career-high was 3.2 attempts from deep in his first year at Wake Forest, albeit on a 31.1 percent clip. But last season with the Deamon Deacons was his best: 37.1 percent on 2.8 attempts per game. That’s more in line with what Kentucky needs from him.

Pope specifically is looking to draw up more catch-and-shoot opportunities for Carr, who is hitting just 27.8 percent of his looks from beyond the arc this season. That low percentage could be part of the reason for his hesitation, but he turns down over half of his possible attempts. That has to change. This team has been at its best when Carr is his most aggressive — that includes taking more threes.

“He’s a terrific shooter,” Pope said. “It’s just a part of his game that is going to continue to grow and expand. He’s incredibly capable. That’s a work in progress. As he gets more comfortable with how we’re playing and what we’re doing and how we are and how we approach this game, he’ll continue to be more and more aggressive.”

Carr has been a necessary piece to the Wildcats so far this season. Pope has shown a willingness to go to him late in close games when he needs a bucket. Carr is averaging 11.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 0.9 blocks in 27.3 minutes per outing. But he’s just not taking as many shots (from anywhere on the floor) as he probably needs to.

Pope wants to see that change moving forward. Carr will have to prove it on the floor.