Murphy, Coffey Named All-Big Ten

GopherLady

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 5, 2008
Messages
9,267
Reaction score
727
Points
113
Per the press release:

ROSEMONT, Ill. - A pair of Minnesota men's basketball players were recognized among the best in the conference, earning a spot on the All-Big Ten teams announced Monday. Senior forward Jordan Murphy was selected to the first team by the media and second team by the coaches, while junior guard Amir Coffey was named to the third team by both groups.

For Murphy, it is his fourth Big Ten honor. He was an All-Freshman Team selection in 2016, then earned third team (coaches/media) after his sophomore season. Last year, he was named to the second team (media) and third team (coaches). Coffey was an All-Freshman selection in 2017.

Murphy becomes the second All-Big Ten first team honoree for the Gophers in the last three years, when Nate Mason broke a 12-year drought in 2017.

One of the most accomplished players in school history, Murphy led the Big Ten in rebounding with 11.7 boards per game, ranking fifth nationally, and tied for third in the country and conference lead with 21 double-doubles. The San Antonio, Texas, native ranked 15th in the Big Ten and led the Gophers scoring 14.5 points per game, including 23 games with 10 or more points this season and five 20-plus scoring efforts. He has started every game this season and is second on the team in field goal shooting (48.5 percent) and blocks (29) while ranking third in assists (82).

Murphy moved into second place on the Big Ten career rebounding chart (1,272), a new school record as well. His 66 career double-doubles is also second in Big Ten history, while his 1,732 career points rank fifth in Gopher program history.

Coffey has had one of the strongest finishes to the season of any Big Ten player, earning back-to-back player of the week nods in the final two weeks. He leads the Gophers and ranks seventh in the conference scoring 16.0 points per game, including the fifth-highest average in Big Ten games (17.6). Coffey has recorded 20 or more points in three straight games, the first Gopher to do so since Andre Hollins in 2015, and his back-to-back 30-point outings was a Gophers first since Vincent Grier did it in 2005.

The Hopkins, Minn., native scored in double figures 25 times this season, including seven games of 20 or more points. Coffey ranks fourth in the Big Ten averaging 34.4 minutes per game, a starter in all 31 games this season.

In addition to the All-Big Ten honor, Murphy was also recognized as the Gophers' nominee for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

The Gophers earned the No. 7 seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament in Chicago and will open postseason play on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. against the 10th-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions.
 






I think Daniel got screwed with this. He deserved to be on the all-freshman team.

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Oturu is deserving. He will use it as motivation I am sure. Very pleased about our other freshmen as well...

AND very PROUD of A. Coffey and J. Murphy!
 

Oturu might have a slight advantage over, or be equal with Jalen Smith when it comes to stats, but Maryland was clearly the better team (4 more wins and 2 head to head wins over MN). Jalen Smith is an easy choice over Oturu.
 

I'm a massive fan of Oturu but Jalen Smith is a better player right now.
 

Oturu might have a slight advantage over, or be equal with Jalen Smith when it comes to stats, but Maryland was clearly the better team (4 more wins and 2 head to head wins over MN). Jalen Smith is an easy choice over Oturu.

Yeah, their advanced stats are very similar:

Smith: PER 21.9; WIN SHARES PER 40 MINUTES .176
Oturu: PER 22.5; WIN SHARES PER 40 MINUTES .158

With freshman, the reputation coming in may be a significant factor (as long as the player performs reasonably well). Smith was the #11 RSCI (consensus) recruit.

I think they both should have made the all freshman team. Someone said the number was limited to five; not sure why that was necessary.
 



The other 4 guys that made the all freshman team are just as deserving:
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois 14 points - 4 rpg - 3 apg
Romeo Langford, Indiana - Automatic
Joe Wieskamp, Iowa 11 points - 5 rpg
Jalen Smith, Maryland 11.5 points - 6.7 rpg
Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan - Automatic

Who are you going to leave off? Oturu/Smith coin flip honestly.
 




Top Bottom