Once again, Caleb Swanigan is the Big Ten Player of the Week. In about an hour he will very likely be named the Big Ten Player of the Year during the conference’s postseason awards show. His Player of the Week Award is his sixth one this season, one short of the record 7 set by Evan Turner in 2010:
Swanigan, who shared the honor with Michigan’s Derek Walton Jr., helped Purdue to its 23rd Big Ten title this week by averaging 20.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per game in wins over Indiana (86-75) and Northwestern (69-65). He was 13-of-29 from the field and 14-of-16 from the free throw line.
He tallied 21 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in Tuesday’s win over Indiana, then secured his nation’s-best 25th double-double of the season with 20 points, 14 rebounds and three assists in Sunday’s win over Northwestern.
For the season, Swanigan is averaging 18.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the field, 44.9 percent from 3-point range and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. In league games only, Swanigan averaged 18.9 points and 12.6 rebounds per game to lead the Big Ten in both categories and becoming the eighth player in Big Ten history to accomplish that feat.
Swanigan’s 25 double-doubles this year are one shy of the all-time Big Ten record set by Ohio State’s Jerry Lucas (26; three times) and Brad Sellers (26; 1985-86).
Tanner Andrews Named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week
Purdue’s comeback on the baseball diamond continues as Tanner Andrews, the Friday starter for the Boilers, won his second Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award. Andrews threw a complete game shutout and struck out 8 in Purdue’s 4-0 win over Southeast Missouri State on Friday. he is now 3-0 on the season and Purdue has already shown vast improvement with a 5-5 start to the year.
Andrews also won Pitcher of the week two weeks ago for his strong outing in the season opener against Texas State. This was after Purdue went five years without a Big Ten Pitcher of the week, so twice in three weeks is impressive!