Through 15 games, Jack Purchase has lived up to his full name.

When the Hawaii basketball team needs a basket from 3-point range, the Rainbow Warriors know where to go for a hoist. The 2016-17 season has been a buyers’ market for Purchase, the Australian third-year sophomore who’s filled a need as a stretch 4 in the Rainbow Warriors’ four-out, one-in offense.

Going into Saturday’s 7 p.m. contest against Long Beach State at the Stan Sheriff Center, Jack is jacking 6.1 3s per game. If he keeps up that pace, he’ll crack the top-10 in UH single-season records.

Ninety-two of his 119 field-goal attempts on the season (77.3 percent) have come from beyond the arc. Of the long-range hoists, he’s cashed in on 33 (a team-best 35.9 percent).

By the Auburn transfer’s standards, that’s not cutting it.

“I feel like a shooter can always get better,” Purchase said. “I don’t think my percentage is great this year. I’ve been missing a fair few shots. … As soon as I get it, I’ve got to get my release off quicker. That’s something I can work on now.”

UH (6-9, 0-2 Big West), and Purchase especially, is well aware that opponents are game-planning for him as a 3-point specialist. UH assistant Chris Acker said Purchase is doing his job.

“We have to set good screens for each other,” Acker said. “When you set good screens, the defense has to make a decision. Sometimes it’s leaving a guy like Jack and living with us making 3s. Sometimes it’s switching and guarding a guy like Jack and our guards turning the corner.”

He has two 21-point games this season, when he hit six 3s against Troy (Nov. 25) and five vs. Delaware State (Dec. 29). But on UH’s Big West-opening road trip, he struggled to get free and averaged 5.5 points in losses at Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine.

“Last couple games, I’ve been face-guarded,” Purchase said. “I haven’t been open on the 3-point line. They’ve scouted me well. I need to be able to change my game so I can score more and be more of a help to the team.”

That’s where Purchase’s underrated ability as a passer comes into play.

UH’s third-leading scorer (10.0) and rebounder (4.1) has also dealt nearly two assists per game. It’s an area Purchase feels he can raise his stock.

“Back home, I’d be able to find, get guys the ball wherever they needed it, on time and on target,” Purchase said. “I need to get back to that.”

Back home is Melbourne, the sports capital of Australia. Purchase grew up under the watchful eyes of his father, former Australian pro Nigel Purchase, and his famous uncle, Andrew Gaze. He was raised in the Melbourne Tigers club team and played on the Australian U-17 squad before committing to Auburn, where the coach who recruited him, Tony Barbee, was fired before his arrival.

He rode out one season under new coach Bruce Pearl and decided he needed a change — one his family supported, even if it meant going nearly two years without watching him in an official game. He was strictly a redshirting practice player when UH won the Big West in 2015-16.

The senior Purchase and Gaze were a well-known scoring tandem in Australia’s National Basketball League. Gaze, a renowned shooter, participated in five Olympic games and is considered the country’s best player in history.

Nigel Purchase said via email, “I always told Jack that he should shoot like his uncle, pass like me and rebound like (former NBL forward) Mark Bradtke, then he would have a decent set of skills to contribute to any team. Jack plays the sport like it is an art and I/we love watching him play.”

UH’s Purchase dreams about following in their footsteps and one day playing in the NBL, which is enjoying a resurgence to go with Australia’s rise as a hoops nation as a whole.

UH coach Eran Ganot wants to make Purchase the first piece of an Australian pipeline modeled after the one Saint Mary’s has tapped to great effect — the No. 21 Gaels have seven Aussies on their roster. There was only one ’Bow from Down Under before Purchase, walk-on Michael Harper.

“It’s awesome,” Purchase said of the plan. “It’s something to be proud of, when the Australian pipeline does start up.”

Freshman guard Matt Owies came to UH in part because he knew Purchase from their club days in Melbourne.

“He’s a classic Aussie dude. He’s a definition of an Australian guy,” Owies said. “He’s just a fun-loving dude. He’s sort of free-flowing, doesn’t get too tied up with things.”

Except when it comes to his game.

After a shooting slump that bridged the Pearl Harbor Invitational and first game of the Diamond Head Classic, Purchase put up shot after shot on the Sheriff rims late into the night.

Over the next three games, he averaged 17 points. That stretch (13-for-28 shooting from 3) underscored his value when he’s hitting.

“I don’t think I’ve hit my ceiling yet,” Purchase said.