Big Ten honors for Naperville’s Crawford

After helping to lead Northwestern to road wins against No. 14/13 Wisconsin and Minnesota, fifth-year senior Drew Crawford has been named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week, conference officials announced Monday.

Crawford, a Naperville native, averaged 23.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists in NU’s victories over the Badgers and Gophers. Crawford shot a combined 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the field in the two games and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from the 3-point line.

Crawford played all 40 minutes against Wisconsin and poured in a season-high 30 points, adding 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal in Northwestern’s victory at the Kohl Center on Wednesday. It was third time in his career that Crawford contributed 30-or-more points in a game for the ‘Cats.

He followed up that performance with a game-high 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in Northwestern’s one-point victory in Minneapolis.

This is the third weekly honor from the Big Ten that Crawford has received.

D.J. Newbill, a junior guard for Penn State, earned co-honors as he averaged 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in Penn State’s victories over No. 24/23 Ohio State and Purdue.