Tony Perkins’ improvement as distributor on display in Iowa’s big win over Nebraska

IOWA CITY — Tony Perkins might have a new nickname.

“They were in the locker room calling me John Stockton,” Perkins said Friday, referencing the former Utah Jazz point guard who now is in the Hall of Fame. “I’ll take it.”

The comments followed a Stockton-esque performance as Perkins racked up a career-high 15 assists while only giving up two turnovers en route to Iowa men’s basketball’s biggest win against a major-conference team this season — a 94-76 victory over Nebraska.

Perkins became the first Hawkeye since 1989 to accumulate 15 assists in a single game.

Going further back in the record book, he became the third player in program history to accomplish the feat. He was one assist short of tying the program record, which Cal Wulfsberg set in 1976.

“Why don’t people tell me this?” said a jovial Perkins, who was confident he could have reached the record, after hearing he was one short of Wulfsberg’s feat.

The Indianapolis native “kept hearing assist by Perkins, assist by Perkins” and started counting his assists.

“Seven at halftime, OK,” Perkins remembers thinking.

He looked over to former Hawkeye Ahron Ulis, who transferred to Nebraska after last season, when he reached 14 assists.

“I was like, ‘That’s 14, that’s 14,’” Perkins said.

By the time the final buzzer rang at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Perkins either scored or assisted on 48 of the Hawkeyes’ 94 points.

Friday’s win was the fourth time in the last six games in which Perkins had seven or more assists.

“You can give him the ball, and you can trust him to run your offense, and he understands the game,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

Perkins’ assist rate this season is a career-high 23.5 percent, according to college basketball analytics site KenPom. It is a major improvement from 16.7 percent in 2022-23 and 15.3 percent in 2021-22 for Perkins.

“We’ve all seen him grow in that position,” McCaffery said. “When we put him in the starting lineup two years ago, we put Bohannan back at the point, so (Perkins) didn’t have that pressure. And then he always had Connor (McCaffery) with him, and that was a factor.”

Perkins ranks seventh in the Big Ten with a 27.4 percent assist rate in conference games so far this season, according to KenPom. That number could rise higher if Perkins can string together a few more Stockton-esque performances, next time knowing what the record is.

“He is one competitive guy, and I’m really proud of him,” McCaffery said.

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