WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Purdue Sports) — Nojel Eastern and Trevion Williams were honored by the Big Ten on Monday, as the league office announced its yearly awards.
For the second straight year, Eastern was named to the Big Ten's All-Defensive Team after leading the Boilermakers to a No. 11 ranking nationally in defensive efficiency. Eastern finished the regular season with a team-best 33 steals while adding five blocked shots. He also pulled down 4.0 rebounds per game and was given the task of guarding the other team's top guard and / or wing player.
Eastern becomes the sixth Purdue player to be named to multiple All-Big Ten Defensive teams, joining stalwarts Chris Kramer (4), JaJuan Johnson (3), A.J. Hammons (3), Rapheal Davis (2) and Dakota Mathias (2). Purdue has had a player on the all-defensive team in seven straight years.
Sophomore Trevion Williams was named to the honorable mention squad by both the coaches and media after averaging 11.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in just 21.4 minutes per game. Per 40 minutes, Williams is one of the most-dominating players in the league, averaging 21.4 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. He is the only player in America to produce a 35 and 20 game, when he scored 36 points with 20 rebounds against Michigan in early January.
Williams' 104 offensive rebounds are the 11th most in the Big Ten since the 2010-11 season and rank second all-time at Purdue.
Tommy Luce was Purdue's representative for the Sportsmanship Award.
The Boilermakers face Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament second round on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
