Northwestern University Athletics
Quartet of Wildcats Earn Big Ten Postseason Honors
3/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. - A record-setting regular season for the Northwestern men's basketball team has resulted in a quartet of Wildcats picking up Big Ten postseason honors. Leading the way for NU is sophomore forward John Shurna who was a consensus second-team All-Big Ten selection, while Drew Crawford was the media's choice as Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Shurna, a native of Glen Ellyn, Ill., exploded onto the scene during his sophomore season, establishing himself as one of the most improved players in the country. He led the Big Ten with 362 points in conference play and his average of 20.111 points per game was a miniscule amount behind Big Ten Player of the Year Evan Turner of Ohio State (20.125). Shurna also paced the conference with 52 3-pointers against league foes. In all games, he ranks third in scoring (18.5 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and blocked shots (1.0 bpg).
Shurna has scored at least 20 points in a game 13 times this season, including eight times against Big Ten opponents. He surpassed 25 points on eight occasions, including scoring a career-high 31 points at Michigan State Jan. 30 and again at Indiana March 6. Shurna needs just 12 points to surpass Evan Eschmeyer's single-season school total of 585 points established in 1997-98. His increase of 11.2 points per game in scoring average is the seventh-best increase in the country and second best of any player in a BCS conference this season.
Crawford became the first Wildcat to earn the Big Ten Freshman of the Year honor by virtue of his selection by the media. The Naperville, Ill., native is averaging 9.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game and has started every game in his first season in a Northwestern uniform. His 35-point performance against North Carolina A&T Dec. 13 set an NU freshman scoring record and is the second-highest point total by any frosh in the country this season. Crawford was also tabbed by the media as an honorable mention All-Big Ten pick and was a unanimous pick of the coaches to the All-Freshman Team.
Both the coaches and the media selected junior guard Michael Thompson as an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection. A native of Chicago, Thompson ranks 14th in the conference in scoring (13.9 ppg), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.58), fourth in assists (4.2 apg) and free throw percentage (.829) and sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (.407). Thompson leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth nationally with an average of 37.8 minutes played per game.
Senior guard Jeremy Nash was recognized by the coaches with a selection to the All-Defensive Team. Nash, a Chicago native, leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big Ten with an average of 1.74 steals per game. His 125 career steals rank eighth in school history. Nash has also contributed 19 blocked shots on the defensive end this season.
Shurna earned further recognition as he was named the team's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
A complete list of Big Ten award recipients can be found by clicking on the PDF link at the top of the page.
