Keaton Nankivil, who generally guards the opposing center, is second in the Big Ten in three-point shooting at 50 percent.

This season Nankivil has made two or more three-pointers in 13 of 26 games, including 11 of 14 Big Ten games.

After missing his lone three-point attempt in UW's loss to Cornell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, Nankivil spoke with assistant coach Gary Close.

Close gave Nankivil one piece of advice and some instructions.

"He said to work on your game to the point where nothing will rattle you," Nankivil said of the advice.

The instructions: Work more than ever on simulating a variety of situations while shooting in the off-season.

Nankivil, a classic catch-and-shoot scorer, worked on shooting off the dribble and coming off screens.

"So if it is off the dribble or off the screen if you can learn to get your balance it makes a catch and shoot really easy," Nankivil said. "That is one thing I tried to work on a lot this summer - take the tough ones and make those and it makes the catch and shoot seem 10 times easier.

"It got to the point where I can get a good shot off I'm pretty confident it will go in."