Michigan's Trey Burke wins second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor

Posted on Mon, Dec 12, 2011 : 10:15 a.m.

Michigan's Trey Burke wins second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor

By Nick Baumgardner

Entering the season, the biggest question surrounding the Michigan basketball program was whether freshman point Trey Burke could fill the shoes of ex-point guard Darius Morris.

That's not really a question any longer.

For the second time in three weeks, Burke was honored by the Big Ten Conference for his stellar play by being named the league's Freshman of the Week on Monday.

Burke, who also won the award on Nov. 28, dropped in a career-high 20 points to go along with nine assists Saturday in a 90-80 win over Oakland at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Thirteen of Burke's 20 points and seven of his nine assists came after halftime against the Golden Grizzlies, as Michigan had its highest scoring output since 2009.

Michigan guard Trey Burke, right, scored a career-high 20 points against Oakland on Saturday and was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week.

For the season, Burke is second to only Indiana's Cody Zeller (15 ppg) on the Big Ten freshman scoring list with 12.2 points per game. The rookie from Columbus is also the league's top first-year assist man, with 4.6 per game.

In addition, Burke has played more minutes than any other freshman in the league, as he's racked up 32.6 minutes per game this season for Michigan.

Indiana's Christian Watford and Michigan State's Draymond Green earned co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors.

Michigan returns to the court Tuesday when it hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff. (7 p.m., ESPNU)

Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.

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Comments

RWBill

Mon, Dec 12, 2011 : 4:57 p.m.

Extremely happy with his play. Very well done from all aspects, not just "for a freshman". Well on the way to filling the biggest loss and challenge to fill from last year's team. Occasionally takes the ball to the hoop like Darius could, good outside shot too, when called upon deep into the shot clock countdown. What a great pick up by Michigan, thrust into the spotlight earlier than planned but responding very well.