Dayton’s Holmes making major strides at free-throw line

“Coaches have been telling me, ‘Just shoot it; don’t always tuck,’” Holmes said Thursday, one day before Dayton’s game against Virginia Commonwealth at UD Arena. “So I feel like that’s what’s really been helping me out, and I’ve been practicing a lot. We practice that a lot in practice, shooting free throws in between each drill, so that’s really been helping all of our teammates with our shooting percentages.”

What does “don’t always tuck” mean? The coaches tell him to not bring the ball down after his dribbles and go straight into his shooting motion.

Holmes shot 58.6% (82 of 140) last season as a freshman. This season, he has improved his percentage to 67.5 (83 of 123). He has also gotten to the line much more often. He ranks sixth in the country in free-throw attempts.

Holmes has scored 20 or more points seven games in a row and hit 32 points in a 69-55 victory at Davidson on Dec. 31 and again on Tuesday at Fordham. He has raised his scoring average to 19.8 points per game, the highest number by a Flyer since Obi Toppin averaged 20.0 points in 2019-20.

Dayton coach Anthony Grant attributes Holmes’ improvement to increased confidence that comes with experience.

“He’s got great form,” Grant said. “He’s got great ability. He’s just got to get the reps in and approach it the right way, and I think he’s doing that.”

Dayton ranks 32nd in the country in free-throw rate, which measures a team’s ability to draw fouls and get to the line in a big part because of Holmes. That’s its best ranking in Grant’s six seasons. It hasn’t ranked in the top 100 since 2016-17 when it was 10th.

Dayton is still a below-average free-throw shooting team in terms of percentage (69.5) but has improved from last season (68.3). The national average is 70.9%.

If Holmes continues on his current path, Dayton’s team average will rise because he takes 36.1% of the team’s attempts.

“The free-throw line is really mental; it’s really confidence,” Dayton forward Toumani Camara said. “He’s been playing so good for us, so I think it also helps with that. He always was capable of making a lot of free throws. I mean, in practice, he barely misses free throws. It’s just been game reps.”