It may not receive the same attention on highlight shows or on social media as a thunderous dunk that rattles the rim or a deep 3 that swishes through the net, but the pass that sets up a basket is often just as important.
In the NCAA Tournament, the ball handler who finds the open man or feeds a teammate cutting to the basket can possibly turn the momentum of a game and help his team advance to the next round.
Since the NCAA began tracking assists in 1984, a player has 15 or more in nine different men’s tournament games – and his team has gone 7-2.
We’ll fire up the March Madness time machine to go back and revisit the NCAA Division I men’s college basketball tournament games with 15 or more assists (although we don’t have to go back far for Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell joining the NCAA Tournament Records):
Players With Most Assists in an NCAA Tournament Game
1. – 19 Assists, Markquis Nowell, Kansas State vs. Michigan State (March 23, 2023)
Nowell put on a show during the 2023 NCAA Tournament, averaging 23.5 points and 13.5 assists while leading third-seeded Kansas State to the Elite Eight. In the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden, he finished with 20 points and an NCAA Tournament-record 19 assists as the Wildcats topped seventh-seeded Michigan State 98-93 in overtime – breaking UNLV guard Mark Wade’s previous record that stood for nearly 26 years.
It was appropriate Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell wore jersey No. 1 when he accounted for the most assists in an NCAA Tournament game. Led by the 19-assist game against Michigan State, Nowell had 54 across four tourney games. (Associated Press)Nowell, a senior guard, also starred with 30 points, 12 assists, five steals and five 3-pointers in Kansas State’s 79-76 loss to ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic in the Elite Eight.
2. 18 Assists – Mark Wade, UNLV vs. Indiana (March 28, 1987)
No player has amassed more assists in a single NCAA Tournament than Wade in 1987, with the highwater mark coming in UNLV’s loss to eventual champion Indiana in the Final Four. Incredibly, the 5-foot-11 left-hander dished out 18 assists without committing a turnover in the 97-93 defeat, a game that also featured teammate Freddie Banks draining a then-NCAA Tournament record 10 3-pointers.
An All-Big West first-team selection in the 1986-87 season, Wade recorded a tournament-record 61 assists– five more than Michigan’s Rumeal Robinson in 1989. Wade also was a solid defender, notching 18 steals, but he wasn’t much of a threat to score with only 13 points in those five tourney games.
T-3. 16 Assists – Earl Watson, UCLA vs. Maryland (March 18, 2000)
UCLA has a tradition-laden history in men’s college basketball, and Watson’s 16 assists in the 2000 second round stand as the program’s all-time high in March Madness. After assisting on 12 baskets in the sixth-seeded Bruins’ first-round win over Ball State, the then-junior Watson set the school record two days later in a 105-70 victory over third-seeded Maryland.
He didn’t turn the ball over once against the Terrapins, while producing an impressive stat line that also included 17 points, four steals and 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.
T-3. 16 Assists – Mitch Johnson, Stanford vs. Marquette (March 22, 2008)
Johnson never had more than eight assists in a game during his junior season in 2007-08 and assisted on just five buckets in third-seeded Stanford’s first-round win over Cornell right before he set the program’s single-game record.
Facing sixth-seeded Marquette, Johnson had 16 assists in the Cardinal’s 82-81 overtime win. His final assist came on Brook Lopez’s baseline game-winning basket with 1.3 seconds left.
In three March Madness games, Johnson averaged 9.7 assists, or five more than he averaged in 30 regular-season games.
T-3. 16 Assists – Ja Morant, Murray State vs. Marquette (March 21, 2019)
Despite Morant being a first-team All-American in 2018-19, most casual college basketball fans hadn’t seen much of the sophomore, who played for mid-major Murray State. But more and more people quickly took a closer look at the budding superstar starting with the 12th-seeded Racers’ 83-64 upset of Marquette in the 2019 NCAA Tournament first round.
Morant had 17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds to record the first triple-double in March Madness since Michigan State’s Draymond Green in 2012, and just the ninth in the tourney since the NCAA began tracking triple-doubles in 1986.
The Ohio Valley Conference player of the year had 28 points in the second round against fourth-seeded Florida State, but just four assists as Murray State’s season ended with a 90-62 loss.
T-6. 15 Assists – Kenny Patterson, DePaul vs. Syracuse (March 15, 1985)
T-6. 15 Assists – Keith Smart, Indiana vs. Auburn (March 14, 1987)
T-6. 15 Assists – Pepe Sanchez, Temple vs. Lafayette (March 17, 2000)
T-6. 15 Assists – Aaron Craft, Ohio State vs. George Mason (March 20, 2011)
T-6. 15 Assists – Brayden Smith, Purdue vs. Gonzaga (March 29, 2024)
T-6. 15 Assists – Brayden Smith, Purdue vs. Houston (March 28, 2025)
Teams With Most Assists in an NCAA Tournament Game
* – NCAA Tournament appearance later vacated under NCAA sanctions
36 – North Carolina vs. Loyola Marymount (CA), Second Round, March 19, 198835 – UNLV vs. Loyola Marymount (CA), Regional Final, March 25, 199035 – Kentucky vs. San Jose State, First Round, March 14, 199633 – Loyola Marymount (CA) vs. Michigan, Second Round, March 18, 199033 – Kansas vs. Chattanooga, First Round, March 17, 199433 – Kentucky vs. Mount St. Mary’s, First Round, March 16, 199532 – Arkansas vs. Georgia State, First Round, March 15,199132 – Kansas vs. Howard, First Round, March 20, 199232 – Kansas vs. South Carolina State, First Round, March 15, 199632 – *Michigan vs. ETSU, Second Round, March 22, 1992
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Who Has Recorded the Most Assists in an NCAA Tournament Game? Opta Analyst.
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