Purchase moves up 3s chart

It was a disappointing flight home today for Hawaii, which came ever-so-close to sweeping its first road trip of the Big West season.

However, senior guard Jack Purchase submitted one of his finer offensive games, scoring a season-high 24 (one off his career high) on 10-for-15 shooting in the 75-71 loss to UC Riverside at SRC Arena. The Aussie scored 18 of his points in the second half in keeping the Rainbow Warriors within striking distance. He hadn’t had a 20-point game to that point this season.

He was 4-for-9 on 3-pointers, which was notable for the fact that he moved past a couple of notable names on the Hawaii career 3-point list.

Alika Smith (previously No. 4, 161 3s) and Carl English (No. 3, 162) fell by the wayside as Purchase now stands alone at No. 3 — 163.

Predrag Savovic (178) and Zane Johnson (180) are all who stand between Purchase and the record. He’s been pretty consistent, putting in multiple 3s in all but three games this season, going 41-for-115 (35.7 percent) to this point.

At his current pace (2.4 3s per game), Purchase would break the record in another seven or eight games. Circle the two-game homestand against Cal Poly (Feb. 14) and UC Riverside (Feb. 16).

UH CAREER 3-POINT TOP 10
1. Zane Johnson 180
2. Predrag Savovic 178
3. Jack Purchase 163
4. Carl English 162
5. Alika Smith 161
6. Mike McIntyre 159
7. Michael Kuebler 143
8. Bobby Nash 142
9. Matt Gibson 129
10. Trevor Ruffin 122

Meanwhile, it was a 3-point shooting exhibition for Riverside on Saturday; the Highlanders put in a UH opponent season high 13 triples in 25 attempts, including 7-for-10 by Australian freshman Dragan Elkaz.

UH’s other prolific 3-point shooter, Eddie Stansberry, went oh-fer from long range for the first time this season, finishing with two points. UH’s leading scorer (13.4 ppg) had an eight-game streak of double-figure scoring snapped.

Here’s where Stansberry (51 3s) and Purchase (41) are in relation to the UH single-season 3-point list (of which Purchase is a member for his sophomore season of 2016-17).

UH SINGLE-SEASON 3-POINT TOP 10
1. Zane Johnson, 2010-11, 98
2. Michael Kuebler, 2003-04, 97
3. Carl English, 2002-03, 89
4. Trevor Ruffin, 1993-94, 86
5. Zane Johnson, 2011-12, 82
6. Predrag Savovic, 2001-02, 75
7. Jack Purchase, 2016-17, 72
Tes Whitlock, 1994-95, 72
9. Alika Smith, 1997-98, 67
10. Jake Sottos, 2004-05, 66