By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Iowa’s men’s basketball team is on another one of those get-into-position-to-get-into-position midseason runs.

The Hawkeyes have won five of their last six games heading into Monday’s game at Minnesota. They started the Big Ten season 0-3, then have won their last two games. They’re tied for ninth in the conference, three games out of first place, but only 1 ½ games out of second place as another Big Ten traffic jam is setting up.

It’s a familiar place the Hawkeyes have been in during the past two seasons, and they’ve been able to find their way into the NCAA tournament.

“I mean, last year we started out 0-3 too,” said guard Josh Dix after Friday’s 94-76 win over Nebraska at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “So it was just being in that position before and not freaking out. We knew we had two home games that we needed to win, and then now we go on the road to Minnesota and we need to win that game too.”

There have been plenty of keys to this current run, but one familiar face has been a big part of it.

It was two seasons ago when guard Tony Perkins was moved into the starting lineup. That move coincided with Iowa’s 12-2 run to end the regular season and win the Big Ten Tournament.

Perkins, now a senior, has been playing his best basketball of the season during this recent stretch. He is averaging 16 points in the six games, shooting 46.7 percent from the field.

But Perkins is also running the offense more. He has 42 assists in the last six games, including a career-high 15 in Friday’s game.

“I’m just trying to find the open man,” Perkins said. “A lot of teams put me high on the scouting report, so they might try to keep me from doing what I want to do, or try to trap me on ball screens, different kinds of stuff. So I just try to find open people and get my teammates involved. So that’s the goal.”

Perkins’ assist total was one off the program record, and he joked after the game he wished someone would have told him that so he could have tied or broken the mark.

“That was probably the first time I’ve had 15 assists,” Perkins said. “It felt good. They were in the locker room calling me ‘John Stockton.’ I’ll take it.”

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery knew when he put Perkins into the starting lineup two seasons ago that he had the ability to drive to the basket, to make plays with his ability to cut through defenses. But he has also learned that Perkins can be a facilitator as well.

“I just felt like he’s a guy that you can give him the ball, and you can trust him to run your offense, that he understands the game,” McCaffery said. “And I think we’ve all seen him grow in that position.”

“He just finds people,” Dix said. “He always has his eyes up and I feel like he just pushes the ball. I mean, he’s super fast out there. So he’s just finding people. He makes the game easy for everyone else.”

Perkins said he knew his assist total in Friday’s game was going to be big as the game progressed.

“I kept hearing, ‘Assist by Perkins, assist by Perkins,’” Perkins said. “I just started adding up all of the passes and shots they were hitting. ‘I had seven at halftime, OK.’”

The Hawkeyes have seemed to hit on a good formula with Friday’s win, and last Saturday’s 86-77 win over Rutgers. They’ve gotten off to strong starts — a 19-5 run to open the game against Rutgers, a 17-2 run to open the game against Nebraska.

“I would say we’re playing together, but it’s also how we come out (at the start),” Perkins said.

But that formula also includes Perkins, a consistent spark who is thriving in a different role.

“I think we’ve all seen them grow in that position,” McCaffery said. “When I put him in the starting lineup two years ago, we put (Jordan) Bohannon back at the point, so he didn’t have that pressure. And then he always had Connor (McCaffery) with him. And that was a factor. But I said, ‘OK, we’re giving you the ball. Let’s go.’ He is one competitive guy and I’m really proud of him.”

Photo: Iowa’s Tony Perkins drives to the basket in a game against Michigan earlier this season. (Stephen Mally/hawkeyesports.com)