Big Ten flexes All-America muscle
Keegan Murray has given Iowa a firstteam Associated Press All-American for the third straight year, and Kofi Cockburn has made it two in a row for Illinois — not bad for a couple programs that haven’t had a whole lot of them.
The Fighting Illini never had a first-team pick until Ayo Dosunmu made it last season when Cockburn was voted to the second team. And the Hawkeyes hadn’t had a firstteam selection since the 1952 season until Luka Garza, last year’s AP player of the year, made his second consecutive appearance in the five-man team.
Throw in Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis and the Big Ten was well represented Tuesday on the AP’s first team, which also included Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe — this year’s player of the year favorite — and Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji.
All the first-team picks have their teams positioned to make a postseason run.
Drew Timme of Gonzaga led the second team for the second straight year and was joined by freshman teammate Chet Holmgren. Jaden Ivey of Purdue gave the Big Ten another All-American, while likely No. 1 draft pick Jabari Smith of Auburn and Benedict Mathurin of Arizona rounded out the second team.
Paolo Banchero of Duke was the only player from the ACC to be chosen for one of the first three teams, while the Blue Devils were the only team from the vaunted basketball conference to land in the final Top 25 poll this season. Banchero also will go down as the final All-American in a long list to have played for retiring Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Banchero was joined on the third team by Collin Gillespie of Villanova and E.J. Liddell of Ohio State, both of whom were honorable mention picks last season, and Walker Kessler of Auburn. James Akinjo of Baylor and JD Notae of Arkansas tied for the last spot on the third team, giving it six members rather than five.
David Roddy of Colorado State was the top vote getter among the honorable mention selections. Others to receive the honor: Armando Bacot (UNC); Johnny Juzang (UCLA); Alondes Williams (Wake Forest); Tari Eason (LSU); Zach Edey (Purdue); two-time pick Max Abmas (Oral Roberts); and Ron Harper Jr. (Rutgers).
NBA: Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record and NBA season-high 60 points in his team’s 149-139 road win over the Spurs on Monday night.
NFL: Just hours after the Cowboys announced on their social media accounts that LB/DE Randy Gregory agreed to a deal to return to the team, Gregory changed agreed with the Broncos to a five-year, $70 million contract with $28 million guaranteed . ... The Giants will sign QB Tyrod Taylor to a two-year, $17 million deal with $8.5 million guaranteed, ESPN reported. Taylor, 32, will likely serve as backup to Daniel Jones.
Soccer: Renan Lodi scored on a header in the 41st minute to lift Atlético Madrid over host Manchester United 1-0 in the second leg of a Champions League last 16 match and into the quarterfinals 2-1 on aggregate. Also, Darwin Núñez scored on a header in the 77th minute to give Benfica a 1-0 road win over Ajax. Benfica advanced 3-2 on aggregate.