For the first time in his Gophers career, Dawson Garcia on Monday was named Big Ten player of the week after a strong start to the opening week of the college hoops season.

The 6-11 former Prior Lake standout led the Gophers with 23 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high tying six assists in last Monday’s 80-60 season-opening win vs. Bethune-Cookman.

In Garcia’s follow-up performance, he had a team-high 22 points, to go with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in Friday’s 102-76 victory vs. Texas-San Antonio.

It’s obviously early, but Garcia ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring (22.5), fifth in rebounding (10.0) and seventh in assists (4.5) so far this season.

The last Gophers player to open the season recording a double-double with more than 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game before Garcia was Jordan Murphy in 2017.

The Gophers (2-0) have two home games this week on Thursday and Saturday against Missouri and South Carolina-Upstate, respectively.