Northwestern University Athletics
Thompson Named Big Ten Player of the Week
3/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern sophomore point guard Michael Thompson (Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park) has been named the Big Ten Men's Basketball Player of the Week the conference office announced Monday. It is the first such honor of Thompson's career and the third time this season a Northwestern player has received the award.
Craig Moore was recognized Nov. 24 and Kevin Coble received the honor Jan. 26. It is the first time since the award began being handed out during the 1981-82 season that three different Wildcat players have earned the distinction. Evan Eschmeyer received the honor three times during the 1998-99 campaign.
Thompson averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals in Northwestern's two wins last week. In 71 minutes of action last week, he committed only two turnovers while dishing out nine assists. The team defeated Indiana 75-53 Wednesday before closing out its home regular season with a 55-49 win over Iowa Saturday.
The victory over the Hoosiers was NU's first in Bloomington since Jan. 13, 1968 and gave the Wildcats their first season sweep of Indiana since the 1967-68 campaign. Thompson scored 16 points to go along with five assists and three steals in the contest, including hitting all six free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the win.
He then carried over his consistent performance to Sunday, posting 14 points, four assists and two steals in Northwestern's win over Iowa. With the Wildcats trailing by seven midway through the second half, Thompson nailed 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to tie the game and eventually help lead NU to victory. The win was NU's 13th home victory of the season, tying the school single-season record.
Thompson leads the team with an average of 4.0 assists per game and is third with a norm of 10.0 points per contest. His 2.33 assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play is second best in the Big Ten. He also ranks second in the league in all games played with a .431 3-point field goal percentage.
Northwestern (16-11, 7-9 Big Ten) opens the final week of the regular season at Purdue Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. Central time.
