1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
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Conference | Big Ten Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. Not ranked |
AP | No. Not ranked |
Record | 14–13 (7–11 Big Ten) |
Head coach | |
Assistant coaches | |
MVP | Nate Williams |
Captain | Appointed Each Game |
Home arena | Assembly Hall |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 1 Indiana | 18 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 32 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 9 Michigan | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 25 | – | 7 | .781 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Purdue | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 16 | – | 11 | .593 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 14 | – | 13 | .519 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iowa | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 19 | – | 10 | .655 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 16 | – | 10 | .615 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 14 | – | 13 | .519 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northwestern | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 12 | – | 15 | .444 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wisconsin | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 10 | – | 16 | .385 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ohio State | 2 | – | 16 | .111 | 6 | – | 20 | .231 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from AP Poll |
The 1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
During the 1975-76 season, Illinois finished seventh in the Big Ten going went 14-13 overall. Lou Henson took over the team as head coach. Henson moved to the University of Illinois to replace Gene Bartow, after Bartow left Illinois to replace John Wooden at UCLA. Henson would lead the Fighting Illini to the 1989 Final Four. In 21 years at Illinois, Henson garnered 423 wins and 224 losses (.654 winning percentage), and with a record of 214 wins and 164 losses (.567) in Big Ten Conference games. The 214 wins in Big Ten games were the third highest total ever at the time of his retirement.
This marked the first time since 1919 that a Big Ten basketball team would finish the season undefeated. This also marked the second time a Big Ten team would finish with 30 or more wins.
Roster
1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
Source[3]
Date time, TV |
Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Non-Conference regular season | |||||||||||
11/28/1975* no, no |
@ Nebraska | W 60-58 | 1 - 0 |
Nebraska Coliseum (6,235) Lincoln, NE | |||||||
12/1/1975* no, no |
vs. Kent State | W 73-54 | 2 - 0 |
Assembly Hall (5,007) Champaign, IL | |||||||
12/4/1975* no, no |
vs. Missouri-Rolla | W 67-65 | 3 - 0 |
Assembly Hall (5,050) Champaign, IL | |||||||
12/6/1975* no, no |
vs. New Mexico | W 67-66 OT | 4 - 0 |
Assembly Hall (5,684) Champaign, IL | |||||||
12/8/1976* no, no |
vs. North Dakota State | W 90-73 | 5 - 0 |
Assembly Hall (3,016) Champaign, IL | |||||||
12/11/1975* no, no |
@ Furman | L 73-75 | 5 - 1 |
Greenville, South Carolina (2,579) Greenville, SC | |||||||
12/13/1975* no, no |
@ Southern California | L 58-62 | 5 - 2 |
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (4,458) Los Angeles, CA | |||||||
12/20/1975* no, no |
vs. Arizona | W 66-60 | 6 - 2 |
Assembly Hall (6,115) Champaign, IL | |||||||
12/22/1975* no, no |
vs. Rice | W 106-64 | 7 - 2 |
Assembly Hall (6,192) Champaign, IL | |||||||
Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
1/3/1976 no, no |
@ Iowa Rivalry |
L 60-84 | 7 - 3 ( 0 - 1 ) |
Iowa Field House (13,171) Iowa City, IA | |||||||
1/8/1976 no, no |
@ #17 Minnesota | L 68-77 | 7 - 4 ( 0 - 2 ) |
Williams Arena (10,062) Minneapolis, MN | |||||||
1/10/1976 no, no |
vs. Northwestern | W 74-69 | 8 - 4 ( 1 - 2 ) |
Assembly Hall (5,547) Champaign, IL | |||||||
1/12/1976 no, no |
vs. Wisconsin | W 71-61 | 9 - 4 ( 2 - 2 ) |
Assembly Hall (6,968) Champaign, IL | |||||||
1/17/1976 no, no |
vs. #1 Indiana Rivalry |
L 55-83 | 9 - 5 ( 2 - 3 ) |
Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL | |||||||
1/19/1976 no, no |
@ Ohio State | L 63-64 | 9 - 6 ( 2 - 4 ) |
St. John Arena (5,715) Columbus, OH | |||||||
1/24/1976 no, no |
vs. Michigan State | L 63-74 | 9 - 7 ( 2 - 5 ) |
Assembly Hall (6,975) Champaign, IL | |||||||
1/26/1976 no, no |
vs. #17 Michigan | W 76-75 | 10 - 7 ( 3 - 5 ) |
Assembly Hall (5,863) Champaign, IL | |||||||
1/31/1976 no, no |
vs. Purdue | W 71-63 | 11 - 7 ( 4 - 5 ) |
Assembly Hall (8,467) Champaign, IL | |||||||
2/2/1976 no, no |
vs. Minnesota | L 62-72 | 11 - 8 ( 4 - 6 ) |
Assembly Hall (7,317) Champaign, IL | |||||||
2/7/1976 no, no |
@ Northwestern | W 61-55 | 12 - 8 ( 5 - 6 ) |
McGaw Memorial Hall (4,228) Evanston, IL | |||||||
2/9/1976 no, no |
@ Wisconsin | W 70-59 | 13 - 8 ( 6 - 6 ) |
Wisconsin Field House (3,883) Madison, WI | |||||||
2/14/1976 no, no |
@ #1 Indiana Rivalry |
L 48-58 | 13 - 9 ( 6 - 7 ) |
Assembly Hall (17,759) Bloomington, IN | |||||||
2/16/1976 no, no |
vs. Ohio State | W 91-73 | 14 - 9 ( 7 - 7 ) |
Assembly Hall (8,087) Champaign, IL | |||||||
2/21/1976 no, no |
@ Michigan State | L 59-69 | 14 - 10 ( 7 - 8 ) |
Jenison Fieldhouse (4,227) East Lansing, MI | |||||||
2/23/1976 no, no |
@ #15 Michigan | L 75-90 | 14 - 11 ( 7 - 9 ) |
Crisler Center (8,121) Ann Arbor, MI | |||||||
2/28/1976 no, no |
@ Purdue | L 62-81 | 14 - 12 ( 7 - 10 ) |
Mackey Arena (13,729) West Lafayette, IN | |||||||
3/6/1976 no, no |
vs. Iowa Rivalry |
L 70-82 | 14 - 13 ( 7 - 11 ) |
Assembly Hall (10,028) Champaign, IL | |||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time. |
Player stats
Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Rebounds | Assists | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rich Adams[4] | 27 | 181 | 67 | 158 | 41 | 429 |
Audi Matthews[5] | 27 | 129 | 46 | 144 | 50 | 304 |
Mike Washington[6] | 27 | 105 | 40 | 142 | 78 | 250 |
Nate Williams[7] | 18 | 102 | 39 | 63 | 44 | 243 |
Otho Tucker[8] | 26 | 83 | 68 | 135 | 84 | 234 |
Ken Ferdinand[9] | 26 | 72 | 17 | 83 | 11 | 161 |
Rick Leighty[10] | 27 | 50 | 10 | 70 | 53 | 110 |
Larry Lubin | 26 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 46 | 60 |
Tom Gearhardt | 22 | 15 | 8 | 34 | 12 | 38 |
Dennis Graff | 15 | 4 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 24 |
Tim Bushell | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
Awards and honors
- Nate Williams
- Team Most Valuable Player [11]
Team players drafted into the NBA
Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
---|---|---|---|
Nate Williams | Chicago Bulls | 5 | 69 |
Otho Tucker | Boston Celtics | 10 | 169 |
Rankings
References
- ^ Men's Basketball Roster
- ^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1975-76 Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
- ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ^ 1976 NBA Draft Archived 2012-02-09 at the Wayback Machine