| 1961–62Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Record | 15-8 (7-7 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| MVP | Dave Downey |
| Captain | Jerry Colangelo |
| Home arena | Huff Hall |
Seasons | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1Ohio State | 13 | – | 1 | .929 | 26 | – | 2 | .929 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 17 | – | 7 | .708 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 17 | – | 7 | .708 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 15 | – | 8 | .652 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 13 | – | 11 | .542 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 13 | – | 11 | .542 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 6 | – | 8 | .429 | 10 | – | 14 | .417 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 7 | – | 17 | .292 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 8 | – | 14 | .364 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 8 | – | 15 | .348 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings fromAP Poll[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
The 1961-62Fighting Illinibasketball team bounced back from a miserable season the year prior.Head coachHarry Combes non-conference season was nearly perfect with an 8-1 record. The only blemish for theUniversity of Illinois was a home loss toCornell. The most unusual thing about this season was that the Illini played three neutral court games in Chicago. This would also be the final full season that the Fighting Illini would play their home games atHuff Hall.
The 1961-62 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team"MVP"Dave Downey. It also saw the return of team captainJerry Colangelo, juniors Bill Burwell, Bill Small, Bob Starnes as well as senior Doug Mills. The Illini also added sophomoreJohn Love to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing in a 4th place tie in theBig Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 15 wins and 8 losses. The starting lineup included Bill Burwell at the center position, Bill Small and Jerry Colangelo at guard and Dave Downey and Bob Starnes at the forward slots.[2]
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source[3]
| Date time, TV | Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state[4] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Conference regular season | |||||||||||
| 12/1/1961* | Butler | W 82-72 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (4,960) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/9/1961* | at Oklahoma | W 72–60 | 2-0 | McCasland Field House (3,000) Norman, OK | |||||||
| 12/12/1961* | Creighton | W 70-61 | 3-0 | Huff Hall (6,017) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/16/1961* 1:30 pm | Iowa State | W 82-73 | 4-0 | Huff Hall (6,437) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/18/1961* | Xavier | W 81-69 | 5-0 | Huff Hall (6,717) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/23/1961* | Cornell | L 60-72 | 5-1 | Huff Hall (5,258) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/28/1961* | vs. Manhattan | W 61-56 | 6-1 | Chicago Stadium (3,000) Chicago, IL | |||||||
| 12/30/1961* | vs. Colgate | W 88-50 | 7-1 | Chicago Stadium (6,000) Chicago, IL | |||||||
| Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
| 1/6/1962 | Michigan | W 91-71 | 8-1 (1-0) | Huff Hall (6,509) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 1/8/1962 | at Purdue | L 89-96 | 8-2 (1-1) | Lambert Fieldhouse (6,500) West Lafayette, IN | |||||||
| 1/13/1962 | at Michigan State | W 66-65 | 9-2 (2-1) | Jenison Fieldhouse (7,068) East Lansing, MI | |||||||
| 1/27/1962* | vs. Notre Dame | W 85-77 | 10-2 | Chicago Stadium (12,224) Chicago, IL | |||||||
| 1/29/1962 | Wisconsin | L 81-85 | 10-3 (2-2) | Huff Hall (6,740) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/3/1962 | Indiana Rivalry | W 96-85 | 11-3 (3-2) | Huff Hall (6,557) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/5/1962 | Minnesota | W 89-80 | 12-3 (4-2) | Huff Hall (5,927) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/10/1962 | at Iowa Rivalry | W 91-81 | 13-3 (5-2) | Iowa Field House (12,300) Iowa City, IA | |||||||
| 2/12/1962 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 88-70 | 14-3 (6-2) | Huff Hall (6,673) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/17/1962 | Purdue | L 88-100 | 14-4 (6-3) | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/19/1962 | at Wisconsin | L 101-103 | 14-5 (6-4) | Wisconsin Field House (7,399) Madison, WI | |||||||
| 2/24/1962 | at No. 1 Ohio State | L 79-102 | 14-6 (6-5) | St. John Arena (13,497) Columbus, OH | |||||||
| 3/3/1962 | Iowa Rivalry | L 78-88 | 14-7 (6-6) | Huff Hall (6,669) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 3/5/1962 | at Indiana Rivalry | L 92-104 | 14-8 (6-7) | New Fieldhouse (5,000) Bloomington, IN | |||||||
| 3/10/1962 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 73–68 | 15-8 (7-7) | McGaw Memorial Hall (5,000) Evanston, IL | |||||||
*Non-conference game.#Rankings fromAP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are inCentral Time. | |||||||||||
| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Rebounds | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Downey | 22 | 174 | 97 | 269 | 445 |
| Bill Burwell | 23 | 151 | 124 | 266 | 426 |
| Bill Small | 23 | 133 | 70 | 90 | 336 |
| Jerry Colangelo | 23 | 111 | 73 | 95 | 295 |
| Bob Starnes | 23 | 81 | 58 | 147 | 220 |
| Doug Mills | 15 | 25 | 9 | 18 | 59 |
| John Love | 22 | 18 | 15 | 86 | 51 |
| Jay Lovelace | 13 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 |
| Jerry Curless | 10 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 14 |
| Bill Edwards | 14 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 11 |
| Jerry Renner | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| Sam Leeper | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Jeff Ferguson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Player Selected |