1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
The 1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
| 1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
|---|---|
 | |
Big Ten conference champions | |
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Final Four | |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 4 |
| AP | No. 5 |
| 1950–51 record | 22–5 (13-1 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Harry Combes |
| Assistant coaches |
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| MVP | Don Sunderlage |
| Captain | Don Sunderlage |
| Home arena | Huff Hall |
| 1950–51 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Illinois | 13 | – | 1 | .929 | 22 | – | 5 | .815 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 Indiana | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | 19 | – | 3 | .864 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 15 | – | 7 | .682 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 13 | – | 9 | .591 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 12 | – | 10 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 10 | – | 12 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 10 | – | 11 | .476 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 8 | – | 14 | .364 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 7 | – | 15 | .318 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 6 | – | 16 | .273 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
A 13 win conference season marked only the second time since 1942 that the Fighting Illini men's basketball team had completed that feat. The only time they finished with a better conference record was 1943, where they completed the season with a perfect 12-0 record. Head coach Harry Combes had guided his team to a Big Ten championship, a third-place finish in the 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 5 in the nation. This was Combes 2nd Big Ten Championship as well as his 2nd third-place finish in the NCAA tournament within his first 4 years as head coach. The 1950-51 team compiled an overall record of 22 wins and 5 losses with a conference record of 13 wins and 1 loss. The season featured a rematch with Kentucky, which had downed the Illini in the national semifinals in 1949. Illinois beat Columbia, 79-71, and North Carolina State, 84-70, to get to the national semifinals and a rematch with the Wildcats. In a heart-breaking loss, Kentucky nipped Illinois, 76-74, on a shot by Wildcat sub Shelby Linville with 12 seconds remaining in the game. The Illini collected third place nationally by beating Oklahoma A&M, 61-46, in Minneapolis. The starting lineup included captain Donald Sunderlage and Theodore Beach as forwards, Rodney Fletcher and Irving Bemoras at guard and Robert Peterson and Mack Follmer rotating at the center position.[1]
Roster
| 1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source[2]
Schedule
Source[3]
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state[4] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Conference regular season | |||||||||||
| 12/4/1950* no, no |
No. NR | Marquette | W 66–47 | 1-0 |
Huff Hall (6,532) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 12/8/1950* no, no |
No. NR | Oregon State | W 74–51 | 2-0 |
Huff Hall (6,400) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 12/9/1950* no, no |
No. NR | Toledo | L 54–68 | 2-1 |
The Field House (6,300) Toledo, OH | ||||||
| 12/16/1950* no, no |
No. NR | DePaul | W 69–68 | 3-1 |
Chicago Stadium (12,000) Chicago, IL | ||||||
| 12/20/1950* no, no |
No. NR | Washington State | W 71–48 | 4-1 |
Huff Hall (2,575) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 12/22/1950* no, no |
No. NR | Pennsylvania | W 75–65 | 5-1 |
Huff Hall (2,411) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 12/28/1950* no, no |
No. 20 | DePaul | L 65–68 | 5-2 |
Huff Hall (5,942) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 12/29/1950* no, no |
No. 20 | Butler | W 88–52 | 6-2 |
Huff Hall (2,921) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
| 1/1/1951 no, no |
No. 20 | Wisconsin | W 71–69 OT | 7-2 (1-0) |
Wisconsin Field House (12,500) Madison, WI | ||||||
| 1/6/1951 no, no |
No. NR | Minnesota | W 70–62 | 8-2 (2-0) |
Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 1/8/1951 no, no |
No. NR | Iowa Rivalry |
L 62–83 | 9-2 (3-0) |
Iowa Field House (13,732) Iowa City, IA | ||||||
| 1/13/1951 no, no |
No. 14 | Michigan | W 68–47 | 10-2 (4-0) |
Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 1/15/1951 no, no |
No. 14 | Indiana (No. 6) Rivalry |
L 53–64 | 10-3 (4-1) |
The Fieldhouse (10,283) Bloomington, IN | ||||||
| 1/20/1951 no, no |
No. 14 | Iowa Rivalry |
W 69–53 | 11-3 (5-1) |
Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 2/5/1951 no, no |
No. 14 | Purdue | W 85–76 | 12-3 (6-1) |
Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000) West Lafayette, IN | ||||||
| 2/10/1951 no, no |
No. 16 | Wisconsin | W 63–52 | 13-3 (7-1) |
Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 2/12/1951 no, no |
No. 16 | Ohio State | W 79–59 | 14-3 (8-1) |
Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 2/17/1951 no, no |
No. 11 | Purdue | W 70–65 | 15-3 (9-1) |
Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 2/19/1951 no, no |
No. 11 | Indiana (No. 6) Rivalry |
W 71–65 | 16-3 (10-1) |
Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 2/24/1951 no, no |
No. 10 | Ohio State | W 89–69 | 17-3 (11-1) |
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (4,220) Columbus, OH | ||||||
| 3/3/1951 no, no |
No. 6 | Northwestern | W 80–76 | 18-3 (12-1) |
Patten Gymnasium (18,000) Evanston, IL | ||||||
| 3/5/1951 no, no |
No. 5 | Michigan State | W 49–43 | 19-3 (13-1) |
Jenison Fieldhouse (6,234) East Lansing, MI | ||||||
| NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
| 3/14/1951* no, no |
No. 5 | Kansas State NCAA Tournament Warm-Up Game |
L 72–91 | 19-4 |
Ahearn Field House (14,000) Manhattan, KS | ||||||
| 3/20/1951* no, no |
No. 5 | vs. Columbia (No. 3) NCAA Tournament First Round |
W 79–71 | 20-4 |
Madison Square Garden (17,107) New York, NY | ||||||
| 3/22/1951* no, no |
No. 5 | North Carolina State (No. 8) NCAA Tournament Second Round |
W 84–70 | 21-4 |
Madison Square Garden (17,000) New York, NY | ||||||
| 3/24/1951* no, no |
No. 5 | Kentucky (No. 1) NCAA Tournament East Regional Final |
L 74–76 | 21-5 |
Madison Square Garden (17,000) New York, NY | ||||||
| 3/27/1951* no, no |
No. 5 | Oklahoma A&M (No. 14) NCAA Tournament 3rd Place Game |
W 57–53 | 22-5 |
Williams Arena (15,438) Minneapolis, MN | ||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Bold Italic connotes conference game
Player stats
| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Sunderlage | 27 | 150 | 171 | 471 |
| Ted Beach | 27 | 124 | 47 | 295 |
| Rod Fletcher | 27 | 115 | 60 | 290 |
| Clive Follmer | 27 | 88 | 64 | 240 |
| Bob Peterson | 27 | 85 | 67 | 237 |
| Irv Bemoras | 27 | 83 | 49 | 215 |
| Max Baumgardner | 23 | 29 | 11 | 69 |
| Jim Bredar | 20 | 15 | 4 | 34 |
| Mack Follmer | 12 | 9 | 3 | 21 |
| Herb Gerecke | 11 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| Dick Christiansen | 7 | 6 | 3 | 15 |
| John Marks | 8 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Jim Schuldt | 16 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Seymour Gantman | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Richard Ems | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Awards and honors
- Don Sunderlage
- Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award (1951)
- Helms 2nd team All-American (1951)
- Sporting News 2nd team All-American (1951)
- United Press International 3rd team All-American (1951)
- Converse 3rd team All-American (1951)
- Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American (1951)
- Team Most Valuable Player[6]
- Ted Beach
- Rod Fletcher
Team players drafted into the NBA
| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Don Sunderlage | Philadelphia Warriors | 1 | 9 |
| Ted Beach | Indianapolis Olympians | 7 | 73 |
Rankings
References
- Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
- Men's Basketball Roster
- University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1950-51 Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
- Schedule
- "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
- List of MVPs
- 1951 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
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