Xavier Tillman Named Second-Team Academic All-American
The No. 13 Michigan State Spartans came into the Breslin Center in hot pursuit of their third straight Big Ten championship on Sunday. They took out the No. 19 Ohio State Buckeyes 80-69. The win improved the men in green’s season record and conference record to 22-9 (14-6). It was the second time that legendary coach Tom Izzo has guided the Spartans to a three-peat in the Big Ten.
The team will return to the hard-court Friday, March 13, 2020, in Indianapolis. While who they will play is not yet known, they will be playing on BTN and the game will tip-off at 6:30 PM.
With the regular season over, Xavier Tillman has been named a second-team All American. Mex Carey the MSU basketball super SID has this recap:
Xavier Tillman Named Second-Team Academic All-American
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State junior men’s basketball Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) was selected to the 2019-20 Academic All-America® Division I men’s basketball team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Monday.
Tillman, a communication major, carries a 3.627 cumulative grade-point average.
Tillman was the recipient of the Student-Athlete Support Services Provost Award in 2019, which is presented to the male and female freshman or sophomore student-athlete who embodies the characteristics of academic performance, community involvement and leadership ability.
In addition, he has been selected to the Dean’s List four times, was the recipient of the Scholar-Athlete Award in 2020, as well as earning High Honors on the Honor Roll in the Spring of 2019 and Student-Athlete of the Month honors.
Tillman is second on the team in scoring (13.7 ppg), leads the team in rebounds (10.4, third in the Big Ten) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg) and is third on the team in assists (3.0 apg).
He is the only Division I player averaging at least 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocked shots and is the only Division I player since 1992-93 to do so (Tim Duncan at Wake Forest in 1996-97 and Bo Outlaw in 1992-93 at Houston). In addition, Tillman is also the only Big Ten player among the top-15 in the league in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots.
Tillman is the first Michigan State men’s basketball player to earn Academic All-America honors since Drew Neitzel was a second-team selection in 2008. He is the sixth Spartan to be named an Academic All-American and earns MSU’s eighth honor.
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