After being a coin-flip outside shooter to begin the season, Collin Chandler‘s percentages have since seen a downward trend. A lengthy break from games provides an opportunity to get himself back on track.
Kentucky is in the middle of a 10-day hiatus as the calendar flips over from 2025 to 2026, games going from non-conference foes to SEC opponents. Following a rough start to the schedule, the Wildcats enter this break riding a four-game winning streak with a 9-4 overall record. For the team as a whole, this time off is necessary simply from a health standpoint. Chandler needs it just to get back in a groove.
Through the first seven games of his sophomore campaign, Chandler carried over the red-hot shooting streak he was on to end the 2024-25 season. Back in the month of March, the 6-foot-5 guard was 12-23 (52.2 percent) from deep for the ‘Cats. He began this season 20-41 (48.8 percent) from long range after seven games. Across a 15-game sample size, that put him at 32-64 (50 percent) on his three-pointers.
Obviously, that was going to be a tough streak to keep up. Even the best shooters in the world struggle to maintain such an efficient percentage for such a long period of time. History told us Chandler’s numbers would come down, and they have over the last month, but the flip in the other direction has been drastic.
Over his last six games, starting with the loss to North Carolina, Chandler has not been able to find his rhythm. He’s 4-20 (20 percent) from deep over that span, while shooting nearly half as many triples per game (3.3) as he was across the first seven games of the season (5.9) despite playing the same amount of minutes.
All that being said, head coach Mark Pope hasn’t given up his faith in Chandler. He’s remained in the starting lineup all season, although his playing time has seen a dip in recent games. Against Indiana, Chandler saw under 20 minutes of action for the first time all season. He went under 20 minutes in the following two games, as well. His only scoreless game of the season came in the win over St. John’s on Dec. 20. The willingness to fire off shots just hasn’t been there. Having to go back and forth from playing on-ball to off-ball while Jaland Lowe goes in and out of the lineup certainly hasn’t helped him.
But Chandler has been able to make an impact elsewhere as he battles through this cold streak. He has 16 assists and nine steals to just six turnovers during his six-game poor shooting stretch. There have been moments where his defense has kept him on the floor at pivotal points in games. During Kentucky’s impressive second-half comeback against St. John’s, Chandler played the final seven minutes. Even still, there were some obvious struggles in his performance — on both ends of the floor — against Bellarmine earlier this week.
All it takes is one big game to get back on track, though. We saw Kam Williams break out of his shooting slump with an 8-10 shooting mark from three against Bellarmine, a game that felt like was coming for him sooner rather than later. Chandler has a 15-game sample size in a Kentucky uniform of being a knockdown shooter. Hopefully, some time away will help unlock him again as the Wildcats enter the SEC schedule.