For the eighth time this season and the fourth time in the last six weeks, Iowa's Owen Freeman has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
The honor was earned by Freeman after he posted averages of 13 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, two assists, and 1.5 steals per game against Penn State and Minnesota last week.
On Sunday afternoon, the Moline, Illinois native was pivotal in Iowa's come-from-behind victory over the Gophers. At one point in the second half, the Hawkeyes trailed by 20 points.
"Obviously we didn't start the second half the way we wanted, but we would've been down 25 if he didn't play the way he did," senior forward Payton Sandfort said after the game. "I'm proud of him. He was phenomenal tonight."
"I thought at the start of the game that he was a step slow," McCaffery said. "Then he took the game over. I'm really proud of him for the way he responded."
The eight Freshman of the Week honors leave him trailing just Jared Sullinger, the former Ohio State big man who earned the award 12 times during his 2010-11 freshman campaign. Sullinger averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds that season for the Buckeyes.
So far this season, Freeman is averaging 10.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
He leads all freshman in the Big Ten in rebounds (151), blocks (41) and steals (26), and is second in points (261) and field goal percentage (.643). The 41 blocks are also the third-most by a freshman in the nation.
His four double-doubles are the most by a freshman in the Big Ten (and tied for the seventh most in the league) and match Luka Garza for the most by a Hawkeye freshman since 2017-18.
