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Illinois freshman guard Andre Curbelo was named the Big Ten’s best bench player and one of its top freshmen on Tuesday afternoon.
Andre Curbelo makes the nation take notice. ♂️
— Illinois on BTN (@IllinoisOnBTN) March 9, 2021
And the freshman PG is already starting a personal trophy case at @IlliniMBB.
Congrats to @papicurbelo11 for being named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year! pic.twitter.com/N6j7p9fuJo
Curbelo didn’t record a single start all year, but appeared in all 26 games while playing over 20 minutes a night and recording 8.8 points, 4.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds.
Arguably his best performance of the season came just last Saturday when he posted 19 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds in a win over No. 7 Ohio State on the road to close the regular season.
He posted 10+ points 11 times off the bench and nearly notched a triple-double in Illinois’ last home game against Nebraska, falling just two assists shy of the mark.
On March 1, Curbelo was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after leading the Illini to two wins in Ayo Dosunmu’s absence and averaging 13 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting over 53% from the floor.
The Illini backcourt is in good hands.