The Tennessean

You've seen it. A college basketball player makes one shot in the first half, struggles, and the crowd murmurs for him to be benched. Then he comes out and makes everything in the second half.

So, is there an explanation for the streak shooter?

Some players and coaches said it's the confidence that builds after hitting that one tough shot. Others said the flow of the game dictates who gets how many shots and from where.

But they agreed on one thing: There's nothing like that feeling.

"Fortunately, I got to experience it a few times, but it was a long time ago," said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings, who played at Purdue in the early 1980s. "When it happens, every shot feels like it's on balance, every shot feels like it comes out cleanly, and then the basket feels like it's twice the normal size."

Take Vandy's Mario Moore. The sophomore point guard wasn't at his scoring best in the first half against IUPUI on Dec. 3. He had just three points, and his Commodores led by only two at the half.

Then the streak began.

Moore hit four 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half and the Commodores began to pull away. It was undoubtedly triggered by Moore's outburst.

"I knew when he hit that first one, he could hit 100 more," IUPUI coach Ron Hunter said.

But what happens when a player goes three or four games and the shots are just not dropping? This is when a basketball coach becomes more of a psychiatrist than an X's and O's fanatic.

"Early in a shooting slump, I don't even talk to them about it," said Belmont coach Rick Byrd. "I continue to give them the green light. You don't want to even suggest to them that they are having problems. You don't want that in their heads. Maybe they don't know they are in a slump."

Coaches never allow themselves to get too low or too high.

And sometimes it doesn't matter what the coach says. The older a player gets, the more times he has seen streaks start and end, the better he knows how to deal with it.

"I started this season not shooting well," Western Kentucky's Mike Wells said. "I shot 6-for-19, something like that, and I got down on myself. ... There are certain times in a game when you need that big basket, and if you hit that 3-pointer, it's just like a dunk. Or better than a dunk."