Jump to content

1938–39 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1938–39 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record14–5 (8-4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
CaptainTom Nisbet
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1938–39 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Ohio State 10 2   .833 16 7   .696
Indiana 9 3   .750 17 3   .850
Illinois 8 4   .667 14 5   .737
Minnesota 7 5   .583 14 6   .700
Purdue 6 6   .500 12 7   .632
Northwestern 5 7   .417 7 13   .350
Michigan 4 8   .333 11 9   .550
Wisconsin 4 8   .333 10 10   .500
Chicago 4 8   .333 9 11   .450
Iowa 3 9   .250 8 11   .421

The 1938–39 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

[edit]

The 1938-39 season was year number three for head coach Doug Mills. Overall the team regrouped from a miserable eighth-place finish in the Big Ten a year earlier by winning 9 of their 10 home games only losing to conference rival Indiana. Unfortunately for the Fighting Illini they finished with a 5-5 record on the road to finish in third place overall in conference action. Mills' Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team featured only 5 returning letterman. Along with team captain Tom Nisbit, the Illini also featured a starting lineup of Lewis Dehner at the center position, John Drish, Joe Frank and William Hapac at forward and George Wardley, and Colin Handlon at guard.[1]

Roster

[edit]
1938–39 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 3 Colin Handlon
Jr Connersville, Indiana
G 4 Henry Sachs
Fr Chicago, Illinois
C 6 Robert O'Neill
So Pitman, New Jersey
C 8 Lewis Dehner
Sr Lincoln, Illinois
F 9 Edsel Hart
So Kensington, Kansas
G 10 James Phillips
So Oak Park, Illinois
G 11 Darold Staley
So Decatur, Illinois
G 12 Robert Richmond
So Johnston City, Illinois
G 15 George Wardley
Sr Gary, Indiana
F 17 Joe Frank
Jr Urbana, Illinois
G 18 Tom Nisbet (C)
Sr Chicago, Illinois
F 19 William Hapac
Jr Cicero, Illinois
G 20 Harold Shapiro
So Chicago, Illinois
F 21 John Drish
So Evanston, Illinois
F 26 Ivan Johnson
So Thebes, Illinois
F 27 Howard Cronk
So Anderson, Indiana
F 28 Norman Cusick
So Chicago Heights, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/10/1938*
no, no
Washington (St. Louis) W 49–31  1–0
Huff Hall (5,000)
Champaign, IL
12/17/1938*
no, no
North Dakota W 61–33  2–0
Huff Hall (4,000)
Champaign, IL
12/21/1938*
no, no
Connecticut State W 49–33  3–0
Huff Hall (4,763)
Champaign, IL
12/27/1938*
no, no
at Manhattan W 60–41  4–0
Madison Square Garden (17,000)
New York, NY
12/29/1938*
no, no
at Villanova W 28–22  5–0
Municipal Auditorium (9,000)
Philadelphia, PA
1/3/1939*
no, no
Cornell W 35-34  6–0
Huff Hall (8,500)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/7/1939
no, no
Michigan W 30–20  7–0
(1–0)
Huff Hall (6,553)
Champaign, IL
1/9/1939
no, no
Indiana
Rivalry
L 28–29  7–1
(1–1)
Huff Hall (6,706)
Champaign, IL
1/14/1939
no, no
at University of Chicago W 43–33  8–1
(2–1)
Henry Crown Field House (3,500)
Chicago, IL
1/16/1939
no, no
Ohio State W 45–31  9–1
(3–1)
Huff Hall (6,846)
Champaign, IL
1/21/1939
no, no
at Wisconsin W 37-34  10–1
(4–1)
Wisconsin Field House (11,200)
Madison, WI
1/23/1939
no, no
at Minnesota L 33–35  10–2
(4–2)
Williams Arena (16,500)
Minneapolis, MN
2/3/1939*
no, no
at Notre Dame L 24–38  10–3
Notre Dame Fieldhouse (5,500)
Notre Dame, IN
2/6/1939
no, no
Iowa
Rivalry
W 34–26  11–3
(5–2)
Huff Hall (6,000)
Champaign, IL
2/11/1939
no, no
at Purdue L 30–34  11–4
(5–3)
Lambert Fieldhouse (5,000)
West Lafayette, IN
2/13/1939
no, no
at Michigan W 35–28  12–4
(6–3)
Yost Field House (4,000)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/20/1939
no, no
Purdue W 35–28  13–4
(7–3)
Huff Hall (6,900)
Champaign, IL
2/25/1939
no, no
at Northwestern
Rivalry
L 34–36  13–5
(7–4)
Patten Gymnasium (5,000)
Evanston, IL
2/27/1939
no, no
University of Chicago W 49–26  14–5
(8–4)
Huff Hall (6,500)
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[2]

Awards and honors

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ^ "1938-39 Men's Basketball Schedule".