| 1942–43Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Record | 17–1 (12–0 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| MVP | Andy Phillip |
| Captain | Arthur Mathisen |
| Home arena | Huff Hall |
Seasons | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 12 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 17 | – | 1 | .944 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 11 | – | 2 | .846 | 18 | – | 2 | .900 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 8 | – | 9 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 12 | – | 9 | .571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 5 | – | 7 | .417 | 8 | – | 9 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 5 | – | 7 | .417 | 8 | – | 9 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 7 | – | 10 | .412 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago | 0 | – | 9 | .000 | 0 | – | 21 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

The1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented theUniversity of Illinois.
The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois. The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss. The season was cut short as three of the five starters headed off to active duty in the armed forces. Illinois won theBig Ten Conference Title and had finished the regular season as the nations' top ranked team. Paced by a group of players known as theWhiz Kids, the team consisted of 20-year-oldAll-America forwardAndy Phillip and teenagersKen Menke,Gene Vance,Jack Smiley and team captainArt Mathisen. These players were so dominant in the Big Ten, that only Northwestern'sOtto Graham could crack the all-conference team.[1]
The Army drafted Mathisen, Menke and Smiley. That left only Vance and Phillip, both good enough to be selected toIllinois' All-Century team. Head coachDoug Mills made a decision in February 1943 that all five always supported: the club did not participate in either theNCAA orNIT tournament.[2]Wyoming's NCAA championship that season may not have happened had Illinois’ season not coincided withWorld War II. The team was retroactively named the national champion by thePremo-Porretta Power Poll.[3]
Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6.
The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012.
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| Date time, TV | Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Conference regular season | |||||||||||
| 12/7/1942* | Detroit | W 38–25 | 1–0 | Huff Hall (5,277) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/12/1942* | Nebraska | W 69–27 | 2–0 | Huff Hall (4,884) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/14/1942* | Missouri Rivalry | W 51–30 | 3–0 | Huff Hall (4,465) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/19/1942* | at Great Lakes | W 57–53 | 4–0 | Chicago Stadium (13,295) Chicago, IL | |||||||
| 12/21/1942* | at Camp Grant | L 31–41 | 4–1 | Camp Grant Y.M.C.A. (2,200) Rockford, IL | |||||||
| 1/2/1943* | Stanford | W 38–26 | 5–1 | Huff Hall (6,835) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
| 1/9/1943 | Michigan | W 47–34 | 6–1 (1–0) | Huff Hall (7,188) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 1/11/1943 | at Wisconsin | W 47–34 | 7–1 (2–0) | Wisconsin Field House (14,000) Madison, WI | |||||||
| 1/16/1943 | Iowa Rivalry | W 61–41 | 8–1 (3–0) | Huff Hall (7,004) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 1/18/1943 | Iowa Rivalry | W 66–34 | 9–1 (4–0) | Huff Hall (6,684) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/1/1943 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 68–51 | 10–1 (5–0) | Huff Hall (6,766) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/6/1942 | at Ohio State | W 60–48 | 11-1 (6–0) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (3,300) Columbus, OH | |||||||
| 2/8/1943 | at Ohio State | W 50–44 | 12–1 (7–0) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (2,900) Columbus, OH | |||||||
| 2/13/1943 | at Minnesota | W 56–35 | 13–1 (8–0) | Williams Arena (6,800) Minneapolis, MN | |||||||
| 2/15/1943 | at Minnesota | W 55–29 | 14–1 (9–0) | Williams Arena (5,100) Minneapolis, MN | |||||||
| 2/20/1943 | Wisconsin | W 50–26 | 15–1 (10–0) | Huff Hall (7,102) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/27/1943 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 68–51 | 16–1 (11–0) | Chicago Stadium (19,880) Chicago, IL | |||||||
| 3/1/1943 | University of Chicago | W 92–25 | 17–1 (12–0) | Huff Hall (6,443) Champaign, IL | |||||||
*Non-conference game.#Rankings fromAP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are inCentral Time. | |||||||||||
Source[4]
| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Phillip | 18 | 131 | 43 | 305 |
| Arthur Mathisen | 18 | 86 | 51 | 201 |
| Ken Menke | 17 | 70 | 43 | 183 |
| Jack Smiley | 17 | 59 | 17 | 135 |
| Gene Vance | 18 | 56 | 14 | 126 |
| Edwin Parker | 18 | 12 | 10 | 34 |
| Oliver Shoaff | 14 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| Kenneth Parker | 14 | 7 | 2 | 16 |
| Alton Shirley | 14 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Cliff Fulton | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Herbert Matter | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Charles Fowler | 7 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| W.L. Miller | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Gordon Hortin | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 |