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.

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.

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.”

May noted there were times when Mara might have practiced too much. Before home games, May looked up at a monitor in the locker room and saw Mara practicing only 3-pointers.

“I wish there was a little more variety in his pregame routine, but that’s his time, and it paid off for us. Those 3-pointers were big today,” May said.

Mara went 11 of 16 from the floor in 26 minutes, and had six rebounds and two blocked shots.

If Mara continues to show a long-range shooting touch, it could make Michigan more of a threat in the postseason.

“He does so many things well. We want them (shooting 3-pointers) at the right time, and each game dictates something different,” May said. “I was more impressed with his rim protection and with the way he was running the floor, and he puts pressure on the rim. The big guy has come a long way.”

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball