MILWAUKEE — When Eric Hunter's chances came in the regular season finale against Indiana, he cashed in, to the tune of 17 points, with three three-pointers.

When chances came against Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament, he did what he's done all season: He made big shots, two of the biggest of that game.

When his opportunity came to make a big shot against Iowa, Hunter's shot assaulted the back of the rim, died on the spot, then rolled in anyway.

That's the sort of heater the Boilermaker senior has been riding this season.

He's shooting better than 47 percent from three-point range.

Last year, he shot about 27 percent.

Now ...

Hunter still doesn't meet the NCAA's (probably unreasonable) statistical-leaderboard threshold of an average of 2.5 makes per game, but if he did, he'd lead the nation in the three-point percentage.

Demaree King of Jacksonville State shoots 46.2 percent.

"For me, it's always just been a confidence thing," Hunter said after that Michigan State game. "I keep telling myself, 'It's just hoops, just basketball, and I've been playing basketball forever.' I've never really not had confidence in my shot, but maybe at some times last year I did, but that's not really been a thing for me lately."

A year ago, Hunter was a very different player, set back to start the season by a knee injury and only showing glimpses thereafter of the player who was generally rock-solid as a sophomore starter the year prior, not to mention one of the most prolific scorers in Indiana high school basketball history.

Hunter spent almost half this season coming off the bench, and there's no secret about that having been an adjustment for the veteran. Even when Purdue was rolling early in the season, Hunter's impact was limited.

He believes it was shortly before his return to the starting five mid-year that his season began to change.

Scoring represents only part of Hunter's value when things are clicking for him, but he didn't score more than six points in a game until Jan. 14.

That was the Nebraska game. Then came Purdue's win at Illinois, probably still the Boilermakers' best win of this season to date. That was probably one of the better all-around games of Hunter's career, and after a forgettable game at IU, Hunter's surge continued and never let up.

"For me it kind of happened when I was putting work in on my own, keep plugging and doing what I do, the things I did to get to this point," Hunter said of his midseason turnaround. "There was a time I just reverted back to my old ways."

Purdue's way better off because of it.

Hunter averaged 7.8 points in Big Ten play, offering a valuable scoring complement to offensive pillars Jaden Ivey and the combination of Zach Edey and Trevion Williams.

Fitting in alongside those high-gravity players has been the key.

Earlier in Hunter's career, one of his challenges was being ready to shoot. When the ball would come his way via a Carsen Edwards or Ryan Cline as a freshman or Williams as a sophomore, he sometimes would hardly even look at the basket.

Now, an entirely different player.

"These guys attract so much attention," Hunter said, "because they're All-Americans and when your All-Americans can pass the ball, you know it's coming, because you know that when Jaden gets in the paint or gets in transition, he's seeing two or three jerseys from the other team. Same for Trevion and Zach in the post. I just have to be ready.

"I just needed to see one, maybe two, go in and I feel like I got my head back in it."

Hunter's shooting has been a godsend during the Big Ten season for an offense that always ranked as one of college basketball's most productive.

And that's not even his prime function for the Boilermakers.

He's Purdue's best defensive player, and his resurgence midseason was no small part of his team closing the season looking like an improved defensive team after spending most of the season maligned at that end of the floor. It earned him an overdue spot on the Big Ten's postseason All-Defense Team.

His role as defensive tone-setter now looms even larger during the NCAA Tournament, starting with his Friday night assignment guarding Yale leading scorer Azar Swain.

"I know it starts with me. I feel like I'm the head of the snake when it comes to the defensive end and guys will follow my lead on that and Jaden last week was unreal on defense."

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