Isaac Asuma’s surname is pronounced AWESOME-uh, and that adjective root fits the true freshman guard’s production through 15 Gophers men’s basketball games this season.

The Cherry, Minn., native climbed a new peak Monday, with a career high 18 points across 40 minutes played in the 89-88 double-overtime loss to Ohio State at Williams Arena.

With a rib injury to Femi Odukale, head coach Ben Johnson called on Asuma to defend Buckeyes junior Bruce Thornton down the stretch. Johnson would later point out to the rest of his players one moment in particular: how Asuma welcomed the challenge of guarding one of the Big Ten’s best guards with 20 seconds left in regulation.

As Thornton brought the ball across half court, Asuma pumped up the crowd, clapped his hands and got into a defensive stance to hold onto a 72-70 lead.

“That just signified to me a guy who has no fear, no back-down,” Johnson said this week as his team prepared for Friday night’s game at Wisconsin. “There was respect there, you could tell. It wasn’t an arrogant thing. It wasn’t an over-confident thing.

“It was competitor on competitor, and it was him telling everybody, including Ohio State, I’m ready to roll. Let’s go!”

Thornton drove to the basket, but Asuma was there to poke the ball out of bounds. Challenge met.

Asuma has shown aplomb throughout the first half of his first college season. The 6-foot-3 point guard is averaging 5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 turnovers across 26 minutes per game. With his size and history of playing high school football, he is confident driving to the basket and dealing with contact.

Asuma didn’t say there was a specific welcome-to-college-basketball moment early on this season, but there was one that introduced him to Big Ten play. It came against Indiana at Assembly Hall on Dec. 9.

“(I) got picked up full court, got it poked from me and had a turnover,” Asuma said of the conference road opener, during which he played a season-low 11 minutes. “After that, locked in a little bit, and then just been taking care of the ball more. Just doing what I need to do.”

Johnson said Asuma’s development was on display in the nearly two weeks without a game in mid-December. He was challenged to lead the U’s second team during practices.

“I think he firmly, in his mind, knows he belongs, and I don’t think he views himself, necessarily, as a freshman because he has played enough minutes and he’s gotten those experiences,” Johnson said before a victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 21.

“We’ve got a long way to go, obviously, but I think his confidence is where it needs to be, where he views himself as a Big Ten-legit player and not as a young guy trying to find his way.”

The emphasis at that point was for Asuma to cut down on turnovers. He had seven across three games against Wichita State, Wake Forest and Bethune-Cookman, but has had only two total in the past six games, including the one he mentioned against the Hoosiers.

“I feel like I’ve gotten better every single game. and more comfortable, so that’s been a big thing for me,” Asuma said before Christmas. “(I’m) just doing whatever I can to win games, whether it’s making plays defensively, hitting someone open for a pass, hitting shots to help us win. I’m just trying to do whatever I can.”

Asuma was one of the top-rated recruits in Minnesota in the 2024 class. Johnson said his staff built an “authentic” relationship with Asuma and his family and showed him the development possible with last year’s star freshman Cam Christie.

“They knew that we cared about him and were going to develop him, and it wasn’t just going to be a used car salesman pitch,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t going to be. ‘What can you do for this university?’ It wasn’t strictly going to be a financial deal. It was old-school. We want development. We want trust. And we want to go to a place where he feels comfortable.”

Asuma has yet to start a game this season, but he’s making it hard for Johnson to not have him on the court.

“We are going to play guys that help put is in the best position, whoever that might be,” Johnson said. “I like the fact that he has kind of pushed the needle.”

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