Maryland basketball’s Anthony Cowan, Bruno Fernando earn All-Big Ten honors

Maryland basketball officially has another all-conference point guard, as Anthony Cowan Jr. was named Third Team All-Big Ten on Monday, in addition to a selection to the conference’s all-defensive team.

He’s joined on the list of Big Ten honorees by teammate Bruno Fernando, who earned an all-freshman nod a year after none of Cowan, Kevin Huerter or Justin Jackson made that team.

Cowan took the necessary step forward after Melo Trimble left after the 2016-17 season to play professionally. The sophomore led Maryland with 15.7 points and 5.2 assists per game, chipped in 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals and improved his three-point shooting from 32 to 37 percent and his foul shooting from 77 to 85 percent. Cowan led the conference with 37 minutes per contest and 159 made free throws, and he also ranked third in assists and free throw percentage and 10th in scoring.

Fernando, meanwhile, started 17 games and averaged 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest. He earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice, on Jan. 8 and Feb. 19, and his rookie campaign included three double-doubles. Fernando’s energy was on display from his very first outing, and his game rounded into form as the season went on. He led all Big Ten freshman in both rebounding and shooting percentage (58.5 percent).

Huerter garnered an all-conference honorable mention, as the sophomore averaged 14.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He made 72 three-pointers and shot 42 percent from beyond the arc.

Maryland earned the No. 8 seed in this week’s Big Ten tournament with its 8-10 conference record. The Terps will play No. 9-seed Wisconsin at noon Thursday in Madison Square Garden.