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1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
American college basketball season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| mode | Basketball |
| year | 1961-62 |
| team | Illinois Fighting Illini |
| image | 1961–62_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg |
| image_size | 300px |
| conference | Big Ten Conference |
| short_conf | Big Ten |
| record | 15-8 |
| conf_record | 7-7 |
| head_coach | Harry Combes |
| asst_coach1 | Howie Braun |
| asst_coach2 | Jim Wright |
| hc_year | 15th |
| ac1_year | 25th |
| ac2_year | 4th |
| captain | Jerry Colangelo |
| mvp | Dave Downey |
| stadium | Huff Hall |
The 1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
The 1961-62 Fighting Illini basketball team bounced back from a miserable season the year prior. Head coach Harry Combes non-conference season was nearly perfect with an 8-1 record. The only blemish for the University of Illinois was a home loss to Cornell. 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 at Huff 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 captain Jerry Colangelo, juniors Bill Burwell, Bill Small, Bob Starnes as well as senior Doug Mills. The Illini also added sophomore John 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 the Big 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.
Roster
- Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (15th year)
- Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (25th year)
- Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (4th year)
Schedule
Source
|- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season |- align="center" bgcolor=""
|- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season
|-
Player stats
| Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Player | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Games played | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Field goals | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Free throws | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Rebounds | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | 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 |
Awards and honors
- Dave Downey
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player
- Bill Burwell
Team players drafted into the NBA
| Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Player | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | NBA club | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Round | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Player Selected |
Rankings
Main article: 1961–62 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
References
References
- Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By [[The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana). News-Gazette]], Sports Publishing LLC {{ISBN. 1-58261-356-7
- [https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/1961-62 University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1961-62], FightingIllini.com
- [https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/1961-62 Schedule]
- "Season Stats".
- "List of MVPs".
- {{usurped
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