E.J. Liddell breakout year earns All-Big Ten nod

COLUMBUS — Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann campaigned for sophomore forward E.J. Liddell.

Holtmann made sure to give reasons why the Buckeyes star should be honored as a first-team all-conference selection.

Liddell has been honored as such. Liddell, who leads the Buckeyes with 16 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season, was named a first-team all-Big Ten performer by the Associated Press and Big Ten coaches on Tuesday morning. Liddell is the first Ohio State star to be named first-team all-Big Ten since 2018 when Keita Bates-Diop was selected.

Holtmann was adamant that Liddell deserved that honor for his performance this season in leading the Buckeyes as one of the top-10 teams in the country.

“I believe he’s a first-team all-league performer,” Holtmann said last week before the close of the regular season. “And I believe he’s deserved that. I really do. I believe Duane [Washington Jr.] has earned serious consideration. Obviously we’d like to finish well and give ourselves a chance, but when you look at our schedule, who we’ve played in the league twice and our overall schedule, I believe that those guys, I believe what I said. E.J. is deserving of that. I really do. I believe Duane deserves serious consideration.

“We’ve made that evident in everything that we can do. Both guys have improved tremendously, but they also both need to play better on both ends. They both understand that.”

That stump speech may not have made a difference, but Liddell was honored in the way Holtmann believed he should be. Now Liddell will try to lift the Buckeyes out of a four-game losing streak into a Big Ten Tournament run.

Ohio State’s Duane Washington was named a third-team selection by the media and coaches.

Ohio State is the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament this week and will play the winner of the Minnesota and Northwestern on Thursday afternoon at about 2:30 p.m. in the second round. If the Buckeyes win that first game, they’ll face fourth-seeded Purdue in the quarterfinal on Friday.

The full all-Big Ten team can be found below.

All-Big Ten first team (Associated Press)

Illinois G Ayo Dosunmu

Minnesota G Marcus Carr

Iowa F Luka Garza

Indiana F Trayce Jackson-Davis

Ohio State F E.J. Liddell

All-Big Ten second team (Associated Press)

Iowa G Joe Wieskamp

Michigan G Franz Wagner

Purdue F Trevion Williams

Michigan F Isaiah Livers

Illinois C Kofi Cockburn

All-Big Ten first team (Media)

Illinois G Ayo Dosunmu

Iowa F Luka Garza

Indiana F Trayce Jackson-Davis

Illinois C Kofi Cockburn

Michigan C Hunter Dickinson

All-Big Ten second team (Media)

Minnesota G Marcus Carr

Iowa G Joe Wieskamp

Ohio State F E.J. Liddell

Michigan F Isaiah Livers

Purdue F Trevion Williams

All-Big Ten first team (Coaches)

Illinois G Ayo Dosunmu

Iowa F Luka Garza

Ohio State F E.J. Liddell

Purdue F Trevion Williams

Illinois C Kofi Cockburn

All-Big Ten second team (Coaches)

Iowa G Joe Wieskamp

Michigan G Franz Wagner

Michigan F Isaiah Livers

Indiana F Trayce Jackson-Davis

Michigan C Hunter Dickinson

The All-Big Ten team from the coaches and media will be added to this post upon their release.

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