IOWA CITY – The Gophers’ Cam Christie and Iowa’s Owen Freeman, who battled as high school stars in Illinois, are now vying for Big Ten freshman of the year.
The 6-11 Freeman, from Moline, Ill., has the most Big Ten top freshman weekly honors this season with seven. Christie, a 6-6 guard from Arlington Heights, Ill., is the reigning Big Ten freshman of the week and has four consecutive double-figure scoring games.
“Christie’s becoming one of the elite freshmen in the league,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said before the Hawkeyes’ 90-85 comeback victory over the Gophers on Sunday. “I’ve been impressed with him.”
Freeman had 17 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks Sunday. Christie was solid, with 10 of his 15 points in the second half, including a big dunk. It was a game in which the Big Ten’s top two freshmen made their mark.
“He’s a great player,” Christie said of Freeman. “It’s nice to see another guy from Illinois succeeding at a high level. It’s always fun to go up against him.”
After scoring 19 points in a victory over Michigan State on Tuesday, Christie was the top scorer among Big Ten freshmen at 11.1 points per game. He averaged 17 points and 6.7 rebounds in three consecutive Gophers victories.
Entering Sunday, Freeman averaged 10.6 points and led all Big Ten freshmen in rebounds (137), blocks (37) and steals (25). His team had beaten Christie’s team the past two times they played, including Moline’s blowout against Rolling Meadows in high school last year with Gophers coach Ben Johnson in attendance.
In their first college meeting this season, Freeman had 12 points and eight rebounds before fouling out in Iowa’s 86-77 win Jan. 15 at Minnesota. Christie scored 12 points in the loss.
