Tony Perkins Hitting Stride

Hawkeye Sophomore Settling into Starting Role

Tony Perkins is going home to Indianapolis for the Big Ten tournament, so he knows he’s going to get a lot of calls for tickets.

The Iowa sophomore guard doesn’t mind, he just wants everyone to know he’s going to have other things to worry about as well.

“I worry about tickets,” Perkins said on Tuesday. “I tell them, ‘Give me a minute. I got you. Just let me focus a little bit. I’ve got you when I got time.’”

Perkins and the Hawkeyes are the fifth seed in the tournament, and they’ll play in Thursday’s 1 p.m. game against either Nebraska or Northwestern.

Perkins, who graduated from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, played in this tournament last season as a key reserve for the Hawkeyes. Now he’s a starter, and his comfort with the role is starting to show.

Perkins has started Iowa’s last 10 games — the Hawkeyes are 8-2 since going to a new starting lineup that had Jordan Bohannon moving back to point guard and Perkins sliding into the ‘2’ guard spot — and has been at his best in the last four games. He’s averaged 14 points in those four games, and is coming off a 17-point, 12-rebound game in Sunday’s loss to Illinois.

“He's not afraid of the moment,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “He's not afraid of the crowd. He just kind of keeps coming, and that's what you appreciate as his teammate or as his coach. So I'm thrilled for him, and I think he's just going to keep getting better. I think that's safe to say with him.”

Perkins, a 44.1 percent shooter this season, is shooting 55 percent over the last four games.

“I think you just see him being more assertive, I feel like, especially offensively,” forward Keegan Murray said. “He’s being more aggressive, going to the basket, trying to create his shot that way. I feel like, for him, he’s growing a lot of confidence offensively.”

A lot of that confidence just comes from better health. Perkins had been dealing with a right shoulder injury, but after his career-high 20-point game in Iowa’s 88-78 win at Nebraska on February 25, he hasn’t felt any pain.

“After the Nebraska game, my confidence was skyrocketing, being able to know I could shoot without hurting it,” Perkins said. “Just being able to play without my shoulder injury on my mind, it’s been great.”

Perkins played in 24 games last season, averaging just 1.6 points. But McCaffery saw Perkins was a confident player.

“I will say this about him —in the times that he did play last year, he kind of played with a little bit of swag, which is what you want,” McCaffery said. “It's not always the case with freshmen, especially when they're behind veteran guys like he was last year.

“But you could kind of see it coming. I think he's gotten a lot more minutes because he's been really productive at both ends. I think he's proven that he's a gamer.”

The lineup change, with the ball in Bohannon’s hands more, has opened up the defense for other Hawkeyes.

“After a few games, seeing how they guard him, seeing how they chase him, regardless if it’s on the ball or off the ball, it opens up a lot of space for guys to drive, get shots,” Perkins said.

Perkins is also one of the Hawkeyes’ better defenders.

“He can guard pretty much anybody,” McCaffery said. “If they have a good wing player, we can put him on that person. If we have to switch, he can play at the post. Not only is he physical and quick, he's tough. He fights you. I think what will happen with his defense is he'll get better at recognizing action.”

Perkins, at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, has the size to go after rebounds, and he’s been doing that. The Hawkeyes are 18-0 when they outrebound an opponent, and Perkins knows that.

“Seeing that influenced me to go in there and grab rebounds, whether it’s on offense or defense,” he said. “I like winning, and I’m going to do what I’ve got to do to win.”