1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. Not ranked
APNo. Not ranked
1975–76 record14–13 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coachLou Henson
Assistant coaches
MVPNate Williams
CaptainAppointed Each Game
Home arenaAssembly Hall
1975–76 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 1 Indiana18–0 1.000  32–0  1.000
No. 9 Michigan14–4 .778  25–7  .781
Purdue11–7 .611  16–11  .593
Michigan State10–8 .556  14–13  .519
Iowa9–9 .500  19–10  .655
Minnesota8–10 .444  16–10  .615
Illinois7–11 .389  14–13  .519
Northwestern7–11 .389  12–15  .444
Wisconsin4–14 .222  10–16  .385
Ohio State2–16 .111  6–20  .231
Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Roster
1975–76 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 10 Nate Williams 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)185 lb (84 kg) SrCrane High School Chicago, Illinois
F 12 Ken Ferdinand 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)200 lb (91 kg) FrUrbana High School Urbana, Illinois
G 20 Dennis Graff 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)170 lb (77 kg) SrGibson City High School Gibson City, Illinois
G 23 Larry Lubin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)175 lb (79 kg) FrNew Trier High School Glencoe, Illinois
F 24 Tom Gerhardt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)210 lb (95 kg) SoDe La Salle High School Chicago, Illinois
G 33 Otho Tucker 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)200 lb (91 kg) RS SrParis High School Paris, Illinois
G/F 34 Rick Leighty 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoLawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
F 40 Rich Adams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)200 lb (91 kg) SoColerain High School Cincinnati, Ohio
G/F 42 Tim Bushell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)195 lb (88 kg) JrLincoln Community High School Lincoln, Illinois
G/F 44 Audie Matthews 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoBloom High School Chicago Heights, Illinois
C 53 Bill Rucks 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)250 lb (113 kg) SrWaukegan High School Waukegan, Illinois
C 54 Mike Washington 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoMorgan Park High School Chicago, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[1] [2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV		 Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
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
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1976
no, no		 @ Iowa
Rivalry		 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
Rivalry		 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 )
 McGaw Memorial Hall (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
Rivalry		 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
Rivalry		 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[4]271816715841429
Audi Matthews[5]271294614450304
Mike Washington[6]271054014278250
Nate Williams[7]18102396344243
Otho Tucker[8]26836813584234
Ken Ferdinand[9]2672178311161
Rick Leighty[10]2750107053110
Larry Lubin262216194660
Tom Gearhardt22158341238
Dennis Graff154164624
Tim Bushell822326

Awards and honors
  • Nate Williams
    • Team Most Valuable Player [11]

Team players drafted into the NBA
Player NBA Club Round Pick
Nate WilliamsChicago Bulls569
Otho TuckerBoston Celtics10169

[12]

Rankings
Main article: 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References
  1. Men's Basketball Roster
  2. All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1975-76 Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  4. Season Stats pg. 118
  5. Season Stats pg. 118
  6. Season Stats pg. 118
  7. Season Stats pg. 118
  8. Season Stats pg. 118
  9. Season Stats pg. 118
  10. Season Stats pg. 118
  11. List of MVPs
  12. 1976 NBA Draft Archived 2012-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
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