Pat Maher ’14 was not sure that he had tied the NCAA record for assists made in a basketball game until two minutes before the end of the second half. But by the time the buzzer sounded, the point guard had toppled the record for most assists in a single NCAA game, previously held by associate head coach Dave Arseneault Jr. ’09.
“Coach called a timeout with about two minutes to go and they announced over the PA that I had tied the record,” Maher recalled. “That was the first time I had any idea where I was [in relation to the record].”
Maher attributed his breaking of the record to his development as a point guard and excellent teamwork among the players.
“It has taken me a couple years, but I finally feel that I have the point guard position down in The System,” he said. “Also, my teammates are great at moving without the ball, finding open spots and being ready to shoot.”
Maher described his style of play as an aggressive one.
“I start off games looking to score and looking to draw fouls. Once that happens, teams start sucking in on defense and helping the defender out, so I get double-teamed or triple-teamed. Then everything opens up for passes,” Maher said.
Maher also believes the fact that the opponents were outnumbered helped him break the record.
“The other team didn’t have many players, so we were able to wear them down, and my teammates did a phenomenal job of getting open and making shots,” he said.
The box score indicates that most of Maher’s assists were for three-pointers, with Grinnell completing 43 percent of their shots from the three-point arc. Sixteen of his 37 assists were to Aaron Levin ’14.
“[Levin scored] over 50 points, so he was a huge part of it,” Maher said. “Other guys shot really well, too. Luke Yeager [’15] and Julian Marx [’17] shot lights out from [the three-point line], so it was a team effort for sure.”
Arseneault said he was “thrilled” to have Maher break his assist record.
“It’s a tremendous accomplishment and speaks volumes about his skill as a playmaker,” Arseneault wrote in an email to the S&B.
