1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16
APNo. 18
1954–55 record17–5 (10-4 Big Ten)
Head coachHarry Combes
Assistant coachHowie Braun
MVPPaul Judson
CaptainMorris Sterneck
Home arenaHuff Hall
1954–55 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 5 Iowa11–3 .786  19–7  .731
No. 18 Illinois10–4 .714  17–5  .773
No. 11 Minnesota10–4 .714  15–7  .682
Michigan State8–6 .571  13–9  .591
Northwestern7–7 .500  12–10  .545
Purdue5–9 .357  12–10  .545
Michigan5–9 .357  11–11  .500
Wisconsin5–9 .357  10–12  .455
Indiana5–9 .357  8–14  .364
Ohio State4–10 .286  10–12  .455
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

Head coach Harry Combes, in his eighth year at Illinois, directed a youthful team with only three returning seniors, none of which were regular players. Combes' team, once again, was primarily made of sophomores and juniors recruited from the state of Illinois.

The 1954-55 team had some talented juniors including the return of twin brothers, Paul and Phil Judson from Hebron, Illinois, Bruce Brothers and Bill Ridley. It also added sophomores George Bon Salle, Bill Altenberger, Hiles Stout, and future Illini head coach, Harv Schmidt. Exactly like the previous season, the Illini finished with a conference record of 10 wins and 4 losses, finishing in a 2nd place tie in the Big Ten. Unfortunately the Illini would lose 5 total games with three of the five losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position, Bill Ridley and Bill Altenberger at guard and Bruce Brothers and Paul Judson at the forward slots.[1]

Roster
1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 7 Morris Sterneck (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) SrSalem High School Salem, Illinois
G 9 Elmer Plew 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)170 lb (77 kg) SrParis High School Paris, Illinois
F 10 Hiles Stout 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)205 lb (93 kg) SoCentral High School Peoria, Illinois
G 11 Bill Ridley 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)160 lb (73 kg) JrTaylorville High School Taylorville, Illinois
F 16 James Burks 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)210 lb (95 kg) SoCaverna High School Horse Cave, Kentucky
G 20 Bill Altenberger 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) SoSenior High School East St. Louis, Illinois
C 22 George Bon Salle 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)215 lb (98 kg) SoLoyola Academy Chicago, Illinois
F 27 Jim Dutcher 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)185 lb (84 kg) SrDowners Grove High School Downers Grove, Illinois
G 30 Phil Judson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)165 lb (75 kg) JrAlden-Hebron High School Hebron, Illinois
F 32 Bruce Brothers 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)200 lb (91 kg) JrQuincy Senior High School Quincy, Illinois
G 33 Harvard Schmidt 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)190 lb (86 kg) SoKankakee High School Kankakee, Illinois
G 34 Paul Judson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)170 lb (77 kg) JrAlden-Hebron High School Hebron, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[4]
Non-Conference regular season
12/2/1954*
no, no		 No. NR Butler W 88–34  1-0
 Huff Hall (4,566)
Champaign, IL
12/4/1954*
no, no		 No. NR Missouri
Rivalry		 W 77–69  2-0
 Huff Hall (4,766)
Champaign, IL
12/11/1954*
no, no		 No. 14 Oklahoma A&M (No. 11) W 59–53  3-0
 Gallagher Hall (8,200)
Stillwater, OK
12/15/1954*
no, no		 No. 3 Miami (OH) W 97–72  4-0
 Huff Hall (4,898)
Champaign, IL
12/18/1954*
no, no		 No. 3 Notre Dame (No. 20) W 66–57  5-0
 Huff Hall (6,804)
Champaign, IL
12/21/1954*
no, no		 No. 3 Rice W 86–53  6-0
 Tudor Fieldhouse (3,300)
Houston, TX
12/22/1954*
no, no		 No. 3 Loyola (New Orleans) L 66–72  6-1
 The Den (-)
New Orleans, LA
Big Ten regular season
1/1/1955
no, no		 No. 6 Wisconsin L 64–79  6-2 (0-1)
 Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
1/8/1955
no, no		 No. 12 Indiana
Rivalry		 L 64–67  7-2 (1-1)
 Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
1/10/1955
no, no		 No. 12 Purdue W 83–73  8-2 (2-1)
 Lambert Fieldhouse (9,700)
West Lafayette, IN
1/15/1955
no, no		 No. 7 Ohio State W 86–78  9-2 (3-1)
 Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (6,154)
Columbus, OH
1/17/1955
no, no		 No. 7 Iowa (No. 19)
Rivalry		 L 80–92  9-3 (3-2)
 Iowa Field House (15,000)
Iowa City, IA
1/29/1955*
no, no		 No. 10 Loyola (Chicago) W 95–69  10-3
 Chicago Stadium (12,181)
Chicago, IL
2/5/1955
no, no		 No. 10 Northwestern W 104–89  11-3 (4-2)
 Huff Hall (5,844)
Champaign, IL
2/7/1955
no, no		 No. 10 Michigan W 81–80  12-3 (5-2)
 Yost Field House (6,913)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/12/1955
no, no		 No. 10 Minnesota (No. 12) L 71–78 OT 12-4 (5-3)
 Williams Arena (11,879)
Minneapolis, MN
2/14/1955
no, no		 No. 10 Michigan State W 90–72  13-4 (6-3)
 Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
2/19/1955
no, no		 No. 14 Wisconsin W 99–71  14-4 (7-3)
 Wisconsin Field House (12,100)
Madison, WI
2/21/1955
no, no		 No. 14 Iowa (No. 15)
Rivalry		 L 70–89  14-5 (7-4)
 Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
2/26/1955
no, no		 No. 13 Ohio State W 85–77  15-5 (8-4)
 Huff Hall (5,829)
Champaign, IL
2/28/1955
no, no		 No. 13 Michigan W 81–75  16-5 (9-4)
 Huff Hall (4,366)
Champaign, IL
3/5/1955
no, no		 No. 17 Northwestern W 81–69  17-5 (10-4)
 McGaw Memorial Hall (9,765)
Evanston, IL
*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
Paul Judson2213985363
Bill Ridley2212388334
George BonSalle209867263
Bruce Brothers229355241
Bill Altenberger229125207
Hiles Stout164044124
Harv Schmidt213628100
Phil Judson22352292
Jim Dutcher13202060
Morris Sterneck12419
Elmer Plew12339
James Burks7226
Dick Rapp2000
William Bosnak2000

[5]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA
Player NBA Club Round Pick
No Player Drafted

[7]

Rankings

References
  1. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. Men's Basketball Roster
  3. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1954-55, FightingIllini.com
  4. Schedule
  5. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-19. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  6. List of MVPs
  7. 1955 NBA Draft Archived 2013-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
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