Did Oklahoma Give Trae Young a Phantom Assist so He Could Tie the National Record?

When the buzzer sounded on Oklahoma’s 105-68 win over Northwestern State on Tuesday, Trae Young was on the bench with 21 assists. That total gave him the Big 12 record previously owned by Doug Gottlieb (18) and left him just one assist shy of the national record, which is held by three players.

Then, during the handshake line, a Christmas miracle!

An assist is something that has a definition, but ultimately comes down to the judgment of the official scorekeeper. And unlike with field goals or rebounds, there is no assist math that has to add up in the end, making this a prime area for fudging around with stats for one reason or another.

I’m not saying that’s what just happened for Trae Young after an otherwise meaningless non-conference home game, but I’m kinda saying that’s what just happened.

Either way, it probably doesn’t diminish the record, as I’d imagine the 22-assist nights by Sherman Douglas, Tony Fairly and Avery Johnson might have had some assistance of their own, too.