Men's Basketball: 5 Gophers receive Big Ten honors

MINNEAPOLIS-After a record-breaking regular season that featured the nation's largest turnaround, the Minnesota men's basketball team was recognized Monday with five year-end honors from the Big Ten Conference.
Head coach Richard Pitino was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, while junior guard Nate Mason earned first team All-Big Ten honors and sophomore forward Jordan Murphy was selected to the All-Big Ten Third Team. All three were consensus picks in the polls by the league's head coaches and media panel.
Redshirt junior center Reggie Lynch was chosen as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and guard Amir Coffey was named a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Those awards were voted upon by head coaches.
Pitino becomes just the second Gopher head coach to win the award, the first since Jim Dutcher in 1982. This year, Pitino has engineered the best win improvement in the NCAA and in program history, improving by 15 victories. The Gophers (23-8, 11-7) earned their highest finish in the Big Ten in 12 seasons, also the last time Minnesota finished conference play with a winning record.