Illinois and Minnesota Claim Weekly Men’s Basketball Honors
Illinois’ Cockburn and Minnesota’s Oturu earn awards
Player of the Week
Daniel Oturu, Minnesota
C – So. – 6-10 – Woodbury, Minn. – Cretin-Derham Hall– Major: Sports Management
- Posted 21 points and a career-high 20 rebounds for Minnesota in an 89-62 win against Florida International on Saturday, shooting 8-of-12 from the field in 32 minutes
- Displayed the first Minnesota 20-20 double-double performance since Tom Kondla had 33 points and 23 rebounds at Kansas State on Dec. 1, 1966
- Became the first Big Ten player with a 20-20 double-double since Michigan’s DeShawn Sims with 20 points and 20 rebounds versus FGCU on Dec. 22, 2008
- Marked a new career-high in rebounds, his previous being 18, which he hit twice in November against Utah and DePaul
- Notched his seventh double-double and third first-half double-double this season, leaving him one short of his double-double total last season
- Earns the first Player of the Week accolade of his career; claimed Freshman of the Week twice in 2018-19
- Last Minnesota Player of the Week: Gabe Kalscheur (Dec. 23, 2019)
Freshman of the Week
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois
C – Fr. – 7-0 – Kingston, Jamaica – Oak Hill Academy (Va.) – Major: General Studies
- Scored a career-high 26 points in Sunday’s 95-64 win over North Carolina A&T, tying the most points by a Big Ten freshman this season (Northwestern’s Boo Buie, 26 vs. MSU, 12/18/19)
- Topped his previous career-high of 23 points, set twice earlier this year
- Marked his fourth 20-point game of the season, shooting 11-of-16 from the field, with the 11 made field goals marking the most by a Big Ten freshman this season
- Posted a game-high 9 rebounds, falling just one board shy of a double-double, and 2 blocks in 28 minutes of play
- Leads Illinois and is the Big Ten’s freshman leader in both scoring and rebounding for the season, averaging 16.0 ppg and 9.7 rpg
- Earns the fifth Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor of his career
- Becomes the first Illinois player to earn Freshman of the Week five times in one season in Big Ten history, ties Michigan State’s Miles Bridges (2016-17) with five Freshman of the Week awards
- Last Illinois Freshman of the Week: Kofi Cockburn (Dec. 16, 2019)
2019-20 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Players of the Week
Nov. 11
P: Nate Reuvers, Jr., F, WIS
F: Kofi Cockburn, C, ILL
Nov. 18
P: Kaleb Wesson, Jr., C, OSU
F: Trayce Jackson-Davis, F, IND
F: Malik Hall, F, MSU
Nov. 25
P/F: Kofi Cockburn, Fr., C, ILL
Dec. 2
P: Anthony Cowan Jr., Sr., G, MD
P: Jon Teske, Sr., C, MICH
F: Trayce Jackson-Davis, F, IND
Dec. 9
P: Luka Garza, Jr., C, IOWA
F: Kofi Cockburn, C, ILL
Dec. 16
P: Lamar Stevens, Sr., F, PSU
F: Kofi Cockburn, C, ILL
F: Trayce Jackson-Davis, F, IND
Dec. 23
P: Gabe Kalscheur, So., G, MINN
P: D’Mitrik Trice, Jr., G, WIS
F: Armaan Franklin, G, IU
F: D.J. Carton, G, OSU
Dec. 30
P: Daniel Oturu, So., MINN
F: Kofi Cockburn
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