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1977–78 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
American college basketball season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| mode | Basketball |
| year | 1977–78 |
| team | Illinois Fighting Illini |
| image | 1977–78_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg |
| image_size | 300px |
| conference | Big Ten Conference |
| short_conf | Big Ten |
| record | 13–14 |
| conf_record | 7–11 |
| head_coach | Lou Henson |
| asst_coach1 | Tony Yates |
| asst_coach2 | Mark Bial |
| asst_coach3 | Les Wothke |
| hc_year | 3rd |
| ac1_year | 4th |
| ac2_year | 1st |
| ac3_year | 3rd |
| captain | Audie Matthews |
| mvp | Audie Matthews |
| stadium | Assembly Hall |
The 1977–78 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
The most significant recruit of the first three years of Head Coach Lou Henson's tenure at Illinois arrived this season. Eddie Johnson was considered to be the most significant piece to reviving the Illini basketball program, a program that had not been to a post-season tournament for 16 years. Johnson, who played at Chicago Westinghouse High School, was one of the state's top seniors and a Parade Magazine All-American. During his senior year at Westinghouse, Johnson, along with teammate Mark Aguirre, became part of a team that went 29-0, losing only in the Public League Final to Wendell Phillips. Prior to choosing Illinois, Johnson visited Southern Cal, Iowa, Michigan and DePaul, but with the encouragement of assistant coach Tony Yates, he selected Illinois.
Along with Johnson, Henson recruited Mark Smith from Peoria Richwoods High School. By season's end, Smith would develop into the team's second leading scorer, finishing the season with 312 points. The team's starting lineup included Neil Bresnahan and Levi Cobb as forwards, Audie Matthews and Reno Gray at the guard positions, and Rich Adams playing center.
Roster
- Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (3rd year)
- Tony Yates (University of Cincinnati) (4th year)
- Les Wothke (Greenville University) (3rd year)
- Mark Bial (University of Illinois) (1st year)
Schedule
Source |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season |- !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}}" | Minutes 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}}" | Assists | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Blocks | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Steals | Illinois Fighting Illini | color=white}}" | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audie Matthews | 27 | 780 | 136 | 55 | 87 | 50 | 0 | 12 | 327 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Mark Smith | 27 | 680 | 111 | 90 | 163 | 36 | 7 | 37 | 312 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rich Adams | 27 | 618 | 108 | 58 | 133 | 37 | 32 | 25 | 274 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Eddie Johnson | 27 | 469 | 100 | 20 | 84 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 220 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rob Judson | 27 | 605 | 76 | 45 | 49 | 57 | 1 | 20 | 197 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Neil Bresnahan | 27 | 670 | 94 | 31 | 195 | 68 | 2 | 21 | 219 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reno Gray | 20 | 434 | 90 | 6 | 29 | 66 | 1 | 18 | 186 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Levi Cobb | 27 | 610 | 72 | 28 | 131 | 23 | 10 | 17 | 172 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Jones | 27 | 232 | 35 | 2 | 16 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ken Ferdinand | 15 | 80 | 13 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Larry Lubin | 17 | 112 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 6 | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Gerhardt | 21 | 105 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt Meyer | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Awards and honors
- Eddie Johnson
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
- Audie Matthews
- Team Most Valuable Player
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Adams | San Antonio Spurs | 4 | 86 | ||||||||
| Audie Matthews | Detroit Pistons | 6 | 117 |
Rankings
Main article: 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
References
References
- [http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1977.html University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1977-78] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-06-25 , FightingIllini.com)
- "pg. 119 Season Stats".
- "pg. 119 Season Stats".
- "pg. 119 Season Stats".
- "pg. 119 Season Stats".
- "pg. 119 Season Stats".
- "pg. 119 Season Stats".
- "pg. 119 Season Stats".
- "pg. 119 Season Stats".
- "List of MVPs".
- {{usurped
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