Gophers’ Oturu named Big Ten Player of the Week after 21-20 game
Daniel Oturu #25 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers shoots the ball against Kenny Goins #25 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 23, 2019 ((Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - For the second straight week, a University of Minnesota basketball player has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week.
Sophomore Gabe Kalscheur shared the honor last week after scoring a career-high 34 points in a win over Oklahoma State in Tulsa. On Monday, sophomore center Daniel Oturu got the honor after a career day in Minnesota’s 89-62 win over Florida International on Saturday to close out the home non-conference schedule.
Oturu scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in the win over FIU. He became the first Gopher since Tom Kondla in 1966 to record a 20-20 game. Oturu shot 8-of-12 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Oturu’s 20 rebounds were the most for a single player in a game since Jordan Murphy grabbed 21 last season against Penn State. It was Oturu’s seventh double-double of the season.
For the season, Oturu is leading the Gophers in scoring (18.3 points per game), rebounding (11.7 per game) and has 38 blocks to lead Minnesota.
The Gophers (7-5, 1-1) start the remainder of their Big Ten schedule at Purdue Thursday night before coming home Sunday night to face Northwestern.