StaTuesday: UWM's Johnson approaching state assist record
It would be easy to make a joke about 5-foot-9 Jordan Johnson of UW-Milwaukee slipping under the radar. But the truth is, the Panthers junior is having one of the best seasons ever for a point guard in Division 1 history in the state of Wisconsin and probably few people even know about it.
On Monday night, in a loss to UW-Green Bay, Johnson recorded six assists, which made him UW-Milwaukee's all-time single-season leader in assists -- and there are still four games to play plus the Horizon tournament and perhaps a postseason tournament (the Panthers are currently 16-11, so it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility).
Johnson, who is in his first year with the Panthers after transferring from John Wood Community College, has had eight games of 10+ assists, including a run of three straight 10-assist games in UWM's first three games of February. His high is 13 assists as Duquesne on Nov. 24.
Johnson is currently second in the nation in assists per game -- although he's also second in his own conference as Oakland's Kahlil Felder is No. 1 at 9.2 assists per game. Only eight players in the Division 1 NCAA basketball are averaging 7.0 or more assists per game.
For those who like advanced stats, Johnson is seventh in the country in assist percentage at 40.2 percent (Felder is No. 1 at 48.8 percent) and he owns a more-than-respectable 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Back to our original declaration, though: Johnson is putting up numbers rarely seen in the state of Wisconsin. His 216 assists broke the school record set by Kaylon Williams in 2011-12. Depending on how many games UWM has left this season, he has a shot at breaking the Division 1 state record for assists in a season. He is certain to finish at least at No. 2.
TOP 10 ASSISTS/SEASON IN WISCONSIN
Follow Dave Heller on Twitter
