1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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{{{year}}} [[{{{team}}} football]]
1941–42 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Illinois 13 – 2   .867 18 – 5   .783
Indiana 10 – 5   .667 15 – 6   .714
Wisconsin 10 – 5   .667 14 – 7   .667
Iowa 10 – 5   .667 12 – 8   .600
Minnesota 9 – 6   .600 15 – 6   .714
Purdue 9 – 6   .600 14 – 7   .667
Northwestern 5 – 10   .333 8 – 13   .381
Michigan 5 – 10   .333 6 – 14   .300
Ohio State 4 – 11   .267 6 – 14   .300
Chicago 0 – 15   .000 1 – 20   .048
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular Season

The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 18 wins and 5 losses. Under the direction of head coach and athletic director Douglas Mills, the Illini grouped a team of players, all around 6' 3", into a nearly undefeatable lineup later to be known as "The Whiz Kids". This group captured the attention of the entire nation while winning back-to-back conference titles and combining for a 35-6 record, 25-2 in the Big Ten over those two seasons. They dazzled crowds everywhere averaging 58 points per game, while most teams were averaging in the low 40s. Primarily made up of sophomores, they dominated the 1941-42 conference basketball season by posting a 13 – 2 record. A starting lineup consisting of Arthur "Jack" Smiley, Ken Menke, Andy Phillip, Ellis "Gene" Vance, Victor Wukovits and Art Mathison, developed a winning attitude that would maintain for the next 15 years, a time period where the Illini would finish no less than third in the conference for 13 of them. The 1942 NCAA tournament was only in its fourth year of existence and was staged around the collegiate basketball coaches convention being held at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The warm weather and unsufferable humidity caused the young Illini to lose two games in a period of two days.

The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012.

Roster

File:1941-42 University of Illinois Whiz Kids.png
"The Whiz Kids"
(l-r) Jack Smiley, Art Mathisen, Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Andy Phillip
No. Player Position Class Height Hometown
4 Henry Sachs Guard Senior 6' 1" Chicago, Illinois
5 Raymond Bergeson Center Sophomore 6' 4" Bridgeton, New Jersey
6 Clifton Fulton Guard Freshman 5' 10" Pittsburg, Kansas
7 Raymond Grierson Forward Freshman 6' 2" Champaign, Illinois
8 Edwin Parker Forward Junior 6' 2" Taft, California
9 Kenneth Parker Guard Junior 6' Granite City, Illinois
10 Bishop Barrick Forward Sophomore 6' 1"
11 Kenneth Brown Forward Sophomore 6' 2" Catlin, Illinois
12 David Dillon Forward Senior 6' 2" Sturgis, Michigan
13 Victor Wukovits Guard Senior 6' 3" Mishawaka, Indiana
14 Johnson Johnson Forward Sophomore 6' 1"
15 Arthur Smiley Guard Sophomore 6' 2" Ft. Wayne, Indiana
16 William Hocking (captain) Forward Senior 6' Evanston, Illinois
17 Herbert Matter Forward Sophomore 6' Naperville, Illinois
18 Robert Shapland Guard Sophomore 5' 9"
19 Arthur Mathisen Center Junior 6' 5" Dwight, Illinois
20 Daryl Robb Guard Sophomore 5' 6"
25 Ellis Vance Guard Junior 6' 2" Chicago, Illinois
33 Charles Fowler Forward Freshman 5' 9" Watseka, Illinois
38 Ken Menke Forward Sophomore 6' 2" Dundee, Illinois
47 Andrew Phillip Guard Sophomore 6' 2" Granite City, Illinois

Record

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
December 9, 1941 Marquette 45–43 Win Champaign, IL 3,990
December 13, 1941 Chanute Field 38–40 Loss Champaign, IL 4,068
December 17, 1941 Butler 52–50 Win Champaign, IL 3,903
December 20, 1941 Detroit 49–34 Win Ferndale, MI -
December 23, 1941 Notre Dame 48–29 Win Champaign, IL 3,405
December 30, 1941 Harvard 39–30 Win Champaign, IL 3,116
January 3, 1942 Wisconsin 55–40 Win Madison, WI 7,000
January 10, 1942 Michigan 44–40 Win Ann Arbor, MI 3,500
January 12, 1942 Ohio State 58–49 Win Columbus, OH 2,658
January 17, 1942 University of Chicago 54–26 Win Champaign, IL 4,349
January 19, 1942 Iowa 42–35 Win Champaign, IL 5,195
January 24, 1942 Minnesota 49–36 Win Champaign, IL 7,051
February 7, 1942 Northwestern 41–33 Win Champaign, IL 6,915
February 9, 1942 Indiana 36–41 Loss Bloomington, IN 6,200
February 14, 1952 Michigan 52–29 Win Champaign, IL 5,031
February 16, 1942 Minnesota 41–37 Win Minneapolis, MN 13,013
February 21, 1942 Ohio State 48–31 Win Champaign, IL 5,195
February 23, 1942 Wisconsin 45–43 Win Champaign, IL 6,105
February 28, 1942 Northwestern 63–49 Win Chicago, IL 18,000
March 2, 1942 Iowa 46–32 Loss Iowa City, IA 13,500
March 7, 1942 Purdue 34–32 Win Champaign, IL 7,035

Bold Italic connotes conference game

NCAA Tournament, New Orleans

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
March 20, 1942 Kentucky 44–36 Loss Municipal Auditorium 3,500
March 21, 1942 Penn State 34–41 Loss Municipal Auditorium 3,500

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Andy Phillip 23 87 58 232
Ken Menke 23 93 38 224
Victor Wukovits 23 51 35 137
Arthur Mathisen 22 41 48 130
Jack Smiley 23 43 20 106
Gene Vance 23 44 10 98
Charles Fowler 14 14 4 32
William Hocking 15 10 4 24
Henry Sachs 10 11 1 23
Edwin Parker 15 9 4 22
Raymond Grierson 4 3 0 6
Herbert Matter 2 2 0 4
David Dillon 3 1 1 3
Cliff Fulton 5 1 0 2
Raymond Bergeson 1 0 0 0
Bishop Barrick 1 0 0 0

[2]


Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived April 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Season Stats
  3. ^ List of MVPs
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