WEST LAFAYETTE – Robbie Hummel had quite a 21st birthday Monday.

The Purdue junior had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in Indianapolis and was named first team All-Big Ten.

Hummel and classmate E’Twaun Moore were first-team selections, senior Chris Kramer was Defensive Player of the Year for the second time, Matt Painter was selected Coach of the Year by his peers, junior JaJuan Johnson was named to the second team and to the All-Defensive Team, and Kelsey Barlow landed a spot on the All-Freshman Team.

Not a bad day for the Boilermakers, who also moved up one spot to No. 6 in the AP poll Monday.

“Each one of those guys has really worked hard to help us win games,” Painter said during his morning teleconference in anticipation of his players earning awards. “When you win games, good things happen.”

Ohio State’s Evan Turner was Player of the Year by media and coaches, and he was joined on both first teams by Illinois guard Demetri McCamey and Michigan State’s Kalin Lucas. Thad Matta, whose Buckeyes shared the league title with the Boilermakers and Spartans, was the media’s Coach of the Year.

Purdue had two players on the first team for the 15th time and the first time since 1988. Each member of its junior class, Hummel, Moore and Johnson, has now been a first-team pick.

Hummel injured his knee Feb. 24 at Minnesota and is out for the rest of the season. Painter expects the recovery period to be four to six months. Hummel played in 27 games and leads the league in free throw percentage (.902) and is sixth in rebounds (6.9) and seventh in points (15.7).

Painter said Hummel likely won’t make the trip to the Big Ten tournament this week at Conseco Fieldhouse, and he may not travel with the Boilermakers to the NCAA tournament.

But the Boilermakers (26-4) still have talent.

Kramer, the school’s all-time steals leader, became the first player in the conference to be named to the All-Defensive Team four consecutive seasons. He was Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore and said he worked hard to get the award back after Michigan State’s Travis Walton took it last season.

“I really just concentrated on being in the right positions and not gambling near as much,” said Kramer, also named honorable mention all-conference by coaches and media. “Just knowing when the blood is in the water to really get up and pressure the basketball to try to get those steals. My steals might have been down a little bit, but I think I played better position defense.”

Kramer has had to adjust to a different role on defense since Hummel’s injury, often matching up with an opposing team’s power forward. Typically, he’s four or five inches shorter but works hard to fight for position in the post. It’s been Kramer’s overall effort on the defensive end that’s impressed Painter.

“He’s worked very hard, and he took it as a challenge after not getting the award last year,” Painter said. “He’s been great for us. Especially at the end, he’s had to guard a bigger guy and do some things he hadn’t had to do the whole year. He’s just a special player that helps you win on the defensive end.”

Moore leads Purdue in scoring for the third straight season (16.7 ppg), but he also has a team-high 86

assists. If he finishes the season tops in both of those categories, he’d be only the third Purdue player to do that since 1971 when assists became a statistic.

“I’ve been consistent, and that’s the main thing I’ve tried to do every game,” Moore said of his season. “I’ve tried to be consistent playing hard and defending. My field-goal percentage has improved, and that’s definitely been huge for me scoring, making me more efficient.”

Johnson leads the team with eight double-doubles and his 7.2 rebounds per game rank fifth in the league, and he’s 10th in scoring (14.9 ppg). He leads the league with 2 blocks per game in league play, helping him earn a spot on the All-Defensive Team for the second time.

“It’s just a huge honor,” said Johnson, a first-team pick last season. “In the Big Ten, when you’re even honorable mention, it’s a big accomplishment just because there are so many talented players and so many deserving of accolades.”

Indiana’s Christian Watford (12.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg) was a member of the All-Freshman team, and teammate Verdell Jones III (14.8 ppg) was honorable mention.

sclardie@jg.net