Midway through the first half Tuesday night, Gophers men's basketball radio voice Mike Grimm was beaming about Elijah Hawkins' nearing double figures in assists for a third consecutive game. Then Hawkins threw an alley-oop pass to Pharrel Payne before Grim could finish his sentence.
"He's on pace to finish with 29 assists," Grimm said about Hawkins, who had 11 assists and zero turnovers at halftime in Tuesday's 101-65 win vs. IUPUI.
A Howard transfer, Hawkins broke Arriel McDonald's 30-year-old program record with his 17th assist late in the second half. Hawkins is the first major conference player with at least 17 assists and one or fewer turnovers in a Division I game since NBA assist leader Tyrese Haliburton was dropping dimes at Iowa State in 2018.
Gophers coach Ben Johnson didn't want anyone chasing assist numbers early in the game Tuesday. But Hawkins admitted to being intentional about breaking the record when his teammates revealed he was close in the second half.
"I knew I was going to get it when I got to 16," said Hawkins, who had his previous career-high 13 assists at Howard. "My teammates know where to go and I know how to find them."
Here are four things learned about Tuesday's third consecutive victory for the Gophers (8-3), who finished with 31 assists:
Big Ten's best passer?
The Gophers haven't had a player lead the Big Ten in total assists since Kevin Burleson in 2002-03. Marcus Carr finished second in the conference when setting a program season record with 207 assists in 2019-20.
Hawkins is currently the league leader with 82 assists and 7.5 assists per game. At least for right now, it seems to be a two-player race for the Big Ten assist crown between Hawkins and Purdue's Braden Smith, who averages 7.2 assists.
Smith is more of a scorer, but Hawkins appears completely fine focusing on getting his teammates involved. In his past five games, Hawkins is averaging seven points, but an impressive 10.6 assists and only 2.2 turnovers per game
Hawkins' first assist against IUPUI was finding Mike Mitchell Jr. for a corner three-pointer, the first of the Gophers' 14 threes in the game. The next came on a drive and dish off a pick-and-roll with Payne for the first of the team's 11 dunks. Hawkins played within the offense and simple passes turn into spectacular plays.
"I thought the last three games, he's really starting to come into his own," Johnson said. "He really has found his stride. He gets it. With every day, every game and every practice he really understands my expectations and our style, our system more and more. He's taken ownership in it."
New starting backcourt
For the first time this season, the Gophers had three newcomers in their starting backcourt with Hawkins, Mitchell and freshman Cam Christie.
Christie led the Gophers with a season-high 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-9 from three-point range. Mitchell, who finished with 14 points, four assists and two steals, was starting his first game this season after Braeden Carrington's decision to take a leave of absence for mental health.
Hawkins pushing the pace with a pass-first mentality allowed Christie and Mitchell to get more open shots and get into rhythm. Carrington's defense is hard to replace, but this seems like a trio that could continue to blossom offensively in the Big Ten.
Christie and Mitchell are getting more comfortable in their roles, each scoring in double figures in four of their past five games.
"I think you get more comfortable with each game," Christie said. "Getting used to the speed, the physicality and stuff. It's definitely got a lot better as the season goes along."
Flying forwards
Before Hawkins was on pace for a record-setting night, the Gophers were just trying to get the ball to Joshua Ola-Joseph and get out of his way.
Ola-Joseph had led the team in scoring for two consecutive games after being benched because of a lack of rebounding during last week's win vs. Nebraska. He's been possessed ever since, including Tuesday with 14 of his team's first 21 points.
His second three of the game came during a 15-5 run that blew the game open in the first half. The 6-7 sophomore started the night shooting 6-for-6 from the field. Ola-Joseph's shooting numbers are crazy impressive so far this season from the field (64.2%) and three-point range (64.7%).
Speaking of efficiency, the Gophers saw Parker Fox score 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting from the field. The 6-8 senior forward did all of his damage near the basket with six dunks, including a reverse slam in transition on a pass from Hawkins.
Fox and Ola-Joseph have seen their frontcourt roles increase with the team's leading scorer Dawson Garcia (ankle) and reserve center Jack Wilson (hip) missing their second consecutive games.
Bench clearing
Redshirt freshman Kadyn Betts averaged only five minutes in five games this season entering Tuesday, but he matched that number in the first half against IUPUI. His confidence grew as he played with others in the main rotation.
Betts, who had a season-high seven points in 17 minutes, was one of several players who got extended playing time with the Gophers leading 57-27 at halftime. Betts and Lithuania native Kris Keinys, who had a season-high five points in nine minutes, both nailed their first career three-pointers.
Walk-ons Erick Reader, Will Ramberg and Jackson Purcell (scholarship walk-on) saw action for the second time this season. Reader, a 6-8 Bloomington native, was part of history as he scored the layup on Hawkins' 17th assist with 2 ½ minutes left in the game.
