Michigan State's Aaron Henry earns all-defensive team, 3rd-team honors in Big Ten

Aaron Henry has been Michigan State’s best player all season, and on Tuesday, the junior wing was named third-team All-Big Ten by both the media and the coaches.

Henry was also named to the Big Ten's All-defensive team by the conference's coaches.

"I'm really happy for Aaron and I think this is a much-deserved honor for him," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said in a statement. "Aaron has devoted himself to getting better and better over the last couple of years and to see him grow and become the person and player he is now is one of the great things about coaching. He's become a multi-dimensional player. He can shoot, drive, rebound and has become one of the great defenders in our league. We've asked him to do so much for us this year and he responded every time. This is very deserving for him and I give him a lot credit for the work he has put in to earn this honor."

Henry finished the regular season averaging 15.5 points, which ranked ninth in the Big Ten, while his 16.5 points a game in conference action was seventh-best. Henry also averaged 5.5 rebounds a game, had 33 steals and blocked 34 shots.

He was especially impressive down the stretch for Michigan State (15-11, 9-11 Big Ten), which won five of its final seven games — three of those victories coming against top-five teams — to almost certainly lock up a 23rd straight NCAA Tournament berth. Henry scored in double figures in each of the final 13 games of the season and his personal 12-0 run helped win a game at home last week against Indiana.

Senior guard Joshua Langford was Michigan State's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @mattcharboneau