1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. Not ranked
AP No. Not ranked
1975–76 record 14–13 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coach Lou Henson
Assistant coach Tony Yates
Assistant coach Mark Coomes
Assistant coach Les Wothke
MVP Nate Williams
Captain Appointed Each Game
Home arena Assembly Hall
1975–76 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#1 Indiana 18 0   1.000     32 0   1.000
#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.

Team

No. Player Hometown High School Class Position
10 Nate Williams Chicago, Illinois Crane High School Sr. Guard
12 Ken Ferdinand Urbana, Illinois Urbana High School Fr. Forward
20 Dennis Graff Gibson City, Illinois Gibson City High School Sr. Guard
23 Larry Lubin Glencoe, Illinois New Trier High School Fr. Guard
24 Tom Gerhardt Chicago, Illinois De La Salle High School So. Forward
33 Otho Tucker Paris, Illinois Paris High School Sr. Guard
34 Rick Leighty Lawrenceville, Illinois Lawrenceville High School So. Forward
40 Rich Adams Cincinnati, Ohio Colerain High School So. Forward
42 Tim Bushell Lincoln, Illinois Lincoln Community High School Jr. Forward
44 Audie Matthews Chicago Heights, Illinois Bloom High School So. Forward
53 Bill Rucks Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan High School Sr. Forward
54 Mike Washington Chicago Heights, Illinois Morgan Park High School Sr. Forward

Schedule

Source[2]

Date
Time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
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

1/3/1976
no, no
@ Iowa 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 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 )
Welsh-Ryan Arena (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 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 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[3] 271816715841429
Audi Matthews[4]271294614450304
Mike Washington[5]271054014278250
Nate Williams[6] 18102396344243
Otho Tucker[7]26836813584234
Ken Ferdinand[8] 2672178311161
Rick Leighty[9] 2750107053110

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round Pick Player NBA Club
569Nate WilliamsChicago Bulls
10169Otho TuckerBoston Celtics

[11]

References

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