Elijah Hawkins sets Gophers' single-game assists record in blowout of IUPUI

Minnesota had four players in double figures in Tuesday's dominant victory.

Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson has been stressing the importance of playing a complete 40 minutes to his team that often comes up with second-half rallies but has had its share of struggles out of the gates.

Elijah Hawkins and the Gophers received the message. 

Hawkins had 11 first-half assists Tuesday on his way to a Gophers' single-game record 17, Josh Ola-Joseph scored all 14 of his points in the first half — 11 of which came in the first seven minutes — and Mike Mitchell Jr. added 10 as the Gophers took a 30-point lead into the halftime break at Williams Arena. 

It didn't get any closer as Minnesota blew out Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) 101-65.

"Obviously I thought (Hawkins) got us off to a really good start," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. "It was one of those deals where you don't want a guy searching for assists, and I didn't think he did." 

Well, maybe he was searching for one. 

Late in the second half, Hawkins recorded his 16th assist to tie the record. And he was stuck on No. 16 for a while. 

"I was at 16, we had a timeout and my teammates told me like, 'One more to beat the record,'" Hawkins said. "So I was just out there trying to fish for another assist. Took me about three to four minutes."

Hawkins saw the floor flawlessly throughout the first half, finding the likes of Parker Fox and Pharrel Payne under the basket for open dunks. 

His 11th assist was highlight-reel worthy; he tossed up an alley oop to Payne, who threw it down with authority to much fanfare at The Barn.

DO NOT JUMP

Stream on @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/pKHmQPqCZl

— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) December 13, 2023

Hawkins finished with two points to go along with the 17 assists and had just one turnover.

Bryce Monroe and John Egbuta paced the Jaguars with 20 and 13 points, respectively.

The Gophers (8-3) kept the Jaguars (3-8) at arm’s length throughout the second half. After Cam Christie drilled a 3-pointer, Minnesota stopped IUPUI on the other end, went out on a fastbreak and Hawkins made an incredible play to save the ball on a pass that was overthrown.

The possession ended in an Isaiah Ihnen 3-pointer that capped a 6-0 Gophers run and stretched their lead to 89-50.

Isaiah Ihnen finding his rhythm for Gophers men's basketball team

The Gophers eventually emptied their bench, bringing out the likes of Kadyn Betts — who tallied seven points in 17 minutes Tuesday — Kris Keinys, Erick Reader, Will Ramberg and Jackson Purcell.

It was just the second game that the trio of Reader, Ramberg and Purcell had played in all season. Reader had a tip-in bucket — his first career points — in the waning minutes that delighted the crowd of 6,581 at the Barn, and Ramberg also got a bucket.  

Minnesota had four players finish in double figures, led by Christie’s 19 points. He also had six rebounds. Fox finished with 16 points and five rebounds and Mitchell added 14 points and four assists.