Gophers Jamison Battle, Payton Willis earn All-Big Ten honors
Minnesota guard Payton Willis scored a career-high 32 points, including a record 8 3-pointers, in the Gophers' 68-65 win over Rutgers on Saturday at Williams Arena. ((credit: University of Minnesota Athletics))
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team starts the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday night against Penn State, and three players were honored by the league on Tuesday.
Gophers’ guard Payton Willis and forward Jamison Battle earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors, while Eric Curry was named Minnesota’s Sportsmanship honoree. Battle, a Robbinsdale native and transfer from George Washington, led the Gophers in scoring at 17.4 points per game. That mark was also sixth in the Big Ten. Battle also led Minnesota with 6.3 rebounds per game. He’s the first Gophers’ player to lead the team in both categories since Daniel Oturu.
Battle has scored in double figures in 26 of 29 games this season, including a career-high 39 points in a loss at Maryland.
Willis is second on the Gophers in scoring at 16.1 points per game, which is also 10th in the Big Ten. He also leads the Big Ten in three-point efficiency at 43.2 percent, which is also No. 9 in the country. Willis leads Minnesota with 4.39 assists per game, which is eighth among Big Ten players. He earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors twice this season.
In 25 games this season, Curry is averaging 7.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in more than 27 minutes.
The Gophers had the three players earn league honors despite finishing 4-16 in Big Ten play, and getting the No. 14 seed for this week’s league tournament. Wednesday’s Minnesota/Penn State winner faces Ohio State Thursday night.