IU junior forward Juwan Morgan was named second team All-Big Ten by both coaches and the media, the Big Ten conference announced Monday.
Morgan took a significant step forward in his junior season by improving his stats across the board, including doubling his scoring average from 7.7 points per game last year to 16.6 points per game this season. He played in all regular season 30 games while also leading IU in rebounding, 7.3 per game, and blocks with 44.
After a strong start to his junior year, Morgan broke onto the national scene with a career-high 34 points in an overtime win against Notre Dame on Dec. 16 at the Crossroads Classic. He was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the performance, which kickstarted his impressive conference campaign.
In 18 Big Ten games, Morgan averaged 17.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 58 percent from the floor and 37.8 percent from 3-point range. He's scored at least 12 points in each of his last 11 games, including five 20-point outings.
The big man has struggled with free throws at times this season, shooting just 62.7 percent, but still gets to the line more than twice as much as any other Hoosier. He was a candidate to be named to the All-Big Ten first team, but ultimately did not make the coaches' or the media list.
First team honors instead went to Ohio State's Keita Bates-Diop, Penn State's Tony Carr, Michigan State's Miles Bridges and Purdue's Carsen Edwards. The media's fifth member was Wisconsin's Ethan Happ, and the coach's fifth member was Nebraska's James Palmer Jr.
Senior guard Robert Johnson was also named honorable mention All-Big Ten by the league's coaches. Johnson scored 14.1 points per game this year in his fourth season as a starter for the Hoosiers. Senior forward Collin Hartman, who missed all of last year with an injury and struggled through injuries this year, received the league's Sportsmanship Award, which is given to one player on each Big Ten team.
The Hoosiers will begin postseason play in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night in New York City. Their first game will be at approximately 9 p.m.against Minnesota or Rutgers.
Jake Thomer
