Three earn conference honors

Three IU men's basketball players received recognition Tuesday as All-Big Ten awards were handed out. Seniors Jeff Newton and Tom Coverdale, and freshman Bracey Wright were named to the All-Big Ten teams by both the media and the coaches.\n"I'm happy about it," Newton said. "There's a lot of talent in the Big Ten. It's good to get my name called as being part of it."\nSenior forward Jeff Newton was voted First-Team All-Big Ten by the league's media and was a Second-Team selection by the conference's coaches. Newton ranks in the top 10 in three statistical categories for the Big Ten. These include scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.\nNewton also has had 11 double-doubles this season, the most of any player in the Big Ten.\nWright received honors as All-Big Ten Third Team and the All-Freshman squad by both the coaches and the media. Wright, who missed four games because of a back injury, is fourth in the league with 17.1 average points scored per game. Wright is in the top 20 in the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging just over five boards per game.\nRounding out the awards is Coverdale, who was an Honorable Mention selection by both the coaches and the media. Coverdale averages just over 11 points per game, earning him the 24th spot in the league. He is in the top 10 in the assists category, dishing out 4.38 per game.\nThe Hoosiers take the United Center court in Chicago at 5:05 p.m. Thursday to face Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.