2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by first year head coach Bill Self, the Illini played their home games at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season with a record of 27–8, 13–3 in Big Ten play to win a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Michigan State. They lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament to Indiana. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. They advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Arizona.

2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Big Ten Regular Season Co-Champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 4
2000–01 record27–8 (13–3 Big Ten)
Head coachBill Self (1st season)
Assistant coaches
MVPFrank Williams
CaptainSergio McClain
Marcus Griffin
Home arenaAssembly Hall
2000–01 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 4 Illinois13–3 .813  27–8  .771
No. 3 Michigan State13–3 .813  28–5  .848
No. 20 Indiana10–6 .625  21–13  .618
No. 25 Wisconsin9–7 .563  18–11  .621
No. 24 Iowa †7–9 .438  23–12  .657
Penn State7–9 .438  21–12  .636
Purdue6–10 .375  17–15  .531
Minnesota5–11 .313  18–14  .563
Michigan4–12 .250  10–18  .357
Northwestern3–13 .188  11–19  .367
Ohio State*0–0 –  0–0  –
† 2001 Big Ten Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
*Ohio State: 30 reg. season games; 1 NCAA Tourn. game vacated due to sanctions against the program
Disputed record: Ohio State-(20-11)(11-5)
"2000-01 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

Regular season

In May 2000, Lon Kruger left Illinois to become head coach of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. Bill Self was named Illinois’ 15th head men’s basketball coach on June 9, 2000.[1] Self came to Illinois from Tulsa where he had led the Golden Hurricane to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 32–5 record and Tournament run to the Elite Eight in 2000. Self ’s first season at Illinois, was memorable. The Illini were ranked in the Top 10 the entire season and tied for the Big Ten Championship with Michigan State. The Illini defeated Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, but fell to Indiana in the semifinals.

The Illini received an at-large as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. Easy wins over Northwestern State[2] and Charlotte[3] led to a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. The Illini defeated Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight.[4] However, the Illini run ended in the Elite Eight to eventual national runner-up Arizona, the third meeting between the two schools on the season.[5] Sophomore Frank Williams became the first Illini player to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors since 1967 and was named to several postseason All-America squads. Junior Cory Bradford set an NCAA record by making a three-point field goal in 88 consecutive games.

Roster
2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 00 Brett Melton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)195 lb (88 kg) FrMahomet-Seymour High School Mahomet, Illinois
G 5 Nate Mast 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)170 lb (77 kg) SrChampaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
G 12 Joe Cross 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)200 lb (91 kg) SrCarbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois
G 13 Cory Bradford 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)200 lb (91 kg) RS JrRaleigh Egypt High School Memphis, Tennessee
F/C 21 Robert Archibald 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)250 lb (113 kg) JrLafayette High School Ballwin, Missouri
F 22 Lucas Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)230 lb (104 kg) JrMaine West High School Des Plaines, Illinois
G 24 Sean Harrington 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)185 lb (84 kg) SoElgin High School Bartlett, Illinois
G 25 Jerrance Howard 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)190 lb (86 kg) RS FrPeoria High School Peoria, Illinois
G 30 Frank Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)212 lb (96 kg) RS SoManual High School Peoria, Illinois
F 33 Damir Krupalija 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)230 lb (104 kg) JrRockford Boylan High School Rockford, Illinois
F 34 Brian Cook 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)240 lb (109 kg) SoLincoln Community High School Lincoln, Illinois
F 40 Sergio McClain (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)230 lb (104 kg) SrManual High School Peoria, Illinois
F 42 Clayton Thomas (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)220 lb (100 kg) SoLarkin High School Elgin, Illinois
C 45 Nick Smith  7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)240 lb (109 kg) RS FrBloomingdale High School Valrico, Florida
F 52 Marcus Griffin (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)235 lb (107 kg) RS SrManual High School/Lincoln College Peoria, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Rosters Roster

Source[6]

Schedule and results
Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
11/17/2000*
 No. 8 Maine W 86–57  1–0
 Assembly Hall (13,044)
Champaign, IL
11/20/2000*
 No. 8 vs. UNLV
Maui Invitational Tournament		 W 74–69  2–0
 Lahaina Civic Center (2,500)
Lahaina, HI
11/21/2000*
 No. 8 vs. (6) Maryland
Maui Invitational Tournament		 W 90–80  3–0
 Lahaina Civic Center (2,500)
Lahaina, HI
11/22/2000*
 No. 8 No. 1 Arizona
Maui Invitational Tournament Championship		 L 76–79  3–1
 Lahaina Civic Center (2,500)
Lahaina, HI
11/26/2000*
 No. 8 Texas Southern W 86–67  4–1
 Assembly Hall (12,970)
Champaign, IL
11/28/2000*
 No. 9 No. 1 Duke
Big Ten-ACC Challenge		 L 77–78  4–2
 Greensboro Coliseum (17,966)
Greensboro, NC
12/2/2000*
 No. 9 at Kansas State W 76–56  5–2
 Bramlage Coliseum (6,415)
Manhattan, KS
12/6/2000*
 No. 9 Wisconsin-Milwaukee W 85–44  6–2
 Assembly Hall (12,312)
Champaign, IL
12/9/2000*
2:00, CBS		 No. 9 No. 7 Seton Hall W 87–79  7–2
 Assembly Hall (16,683)
Champaign, IL
12/16/2000*
 No. 5 vs. No. 7 Arizona W 81–73  8–2
 United Center (21,885)
Chicago, IL
12/21/2000*
 No. 5 vs. Missouri
Braggin' Rights		 W 86–81 OT 9–2
 Scottrade Center (22,089)
St. Louis, MO
12/23/2000*
 No. 5 at Texas L 64–72  9–3
 Frank Erwin Center (11,916)
Austin, TX
12/29/2000*
 No. 9 vs. Illinois-Chicago W 77–64  10–3
 Rosemont Horizon (9,152)
Rosemont, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/3/2001
 No. 9 Minnesota W 80–64  11–3
(1–0)		 Assembly Hall (13,840)
Champaign, IL
1/6/2001
 No. 9 Ohio State W 83–68  12–3
(2–0)		 Assembly Hall (16,683)
Champaign, IL
1/11/2001
 No. 7 at Iowa
Rivalry		 L 62–78  12–4
(2–1)		 Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500)
Iowa City, IA
1/13/2001
 No. 7 Michigan W 80–51  13–4
(3–1)		 Assembly Hall (16,683)
Champaign, IL
1/17/2001
 No. 11 at Northwestern W 63–49  14–4
(4–1)		 Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, IL
1/20/2001
 No. 11 Penn State W 92–60  15–4
(5–1)		 Assembly Hall (16,683)
Champaign, IL
1/25/2001
 No. 7 at Michigan W 55–51  16–4
(6–1)		 Crisler Arena (11,092)
Ann Arbor, MI
1/31/2001
 No. 6 at Penn State L 95–98 OT 16–5
(6–2)		 Bryce Jordan Center (8,953)
University Park, PA
2/3/2001
 No. 6 Northwestern W 84–59  17–5
(7–2)		 Assembly Hall (16,683)
Champaign, IL
2/6/2001
 No. 7 No. 4 Michigan State W 77–66  18–5
(8–2)		 Assembly Hall (16,683)
Champaign, IL
2/10/2001
 No. 7 at Purdue W 82–61  19–5
(9–2)		 Mackey Arena (14,123)
West Lafayette, IN
2/13/2001
 No. 4 No. 19 Wisconsin W 68–67  20–5
(10–2)		 Assembly Hall (16,683)
Champaign, IL
2/17/2001
 No. 4 at Indiana
Rivalry		 W 67–61  21–5
(11–2)		 Assembly Hall (17,460)
Bloomington, IN
2/22/2001
 No. 3 at Ohio State L 61–63  21–6
(11–3)		 Value City Arena (19,200)
Columbus, OH
2/24/2001
 No. 3 Iowa
Rivalry		 W 89–63  22–6
(12–3)		 Assembly Hall (16,683)
Champaign, IL
3/4/2001
4:00, CBS		 No. 5 at Minnesota W 67–59  23–6
(13–3)		 Williams Arena (14,329)
Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten Tournament
3/9/2001
 (1) No. 4 vs. (8) Purdue
quarterfinals		 W 83–66  24–6
 United Center (22,679)
Chicago, IL
3/10/2001
 (1) No. 4 vs. (4) Indiana
semifinals		 L 56–58  24–7
 United Center (23,418)
Chicago, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/16/2001*
 CBS		 (1 MW) No. 4 vs. (16 MW) Northwestern State
First Round		 W 96–54  25–7
 University of Dayton Arena (13,007)
Dayton, OH
3/18/2001*
 CBS		 (1 MW) No. 4 (9 MW) Charlotte
Second Round		 W 79–61  26–7
 University of Dayton Arena (13,159)
Dayton, OH
3/23/2001*
 CBS		 (1 MW) No. 4 vs. (4 MW) No. 12 Kansas
Sweet Sixteen		 W 80–64  27–7
 Alamodome (28,962)
San Antonio, TX
3/25/2001*
 CBS		 (1 MW) No. 4 vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Arizona
Elite Eight		 L 81–87  27–8
 Alamodome (30,212)
San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[7]

Player stats
Player Games Played 2 pt. Field Goals 3 pt. Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points
Frank Williams[8]3412939133126148967508
Brian Cook[9]351192869212434521391
Marcus Griffin[10]34154077203344429385
Cory Bradford[11]354172478963323345
Sergio McClain[12]35691869194102746261
Robert Archibald[13]3477090154222612244
Sean Harrington[14]351051274941127200
Lucas Johnson[15]3530186211659520176
Damir Krupalija[16]273673610518416129
Brett Melton287852371343
Joe Cross175221210418
Nate Mast201411220115
Jerrance Howard254029101010

Awards and honors

Rankings
Main article: 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked.
PollPreWk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Wk 16Wk 17Final
AP[18] 8 8 8 9 9 5 9 9 7 11 7 6 7 4 3 5 4 4

References
  1. "Illini Hires Self As Hoops Coach". Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  2. "Northwestern State vs. Illinois Box Score, March 16, 2001 | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  3. "2001 Illinois vs. Charlotte Round of 32". ncaa-basketball-tournament.pointafter.com. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  4. "Kansas vs. Illinois Box Score, March 23, 2001 | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  5. "NCAA Men's Basketball - Arizona vs. Illinois". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  6. FightingIllini.com
  7. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/illinois/2001.html
  8. Season Stats pg. 125
  9. Season Stats pg. 125
  10. Season Stats pg. 125
  11. Season Stats pg. 125
  12. Season Stats pg. 125
  13. Season Stats pg. 125
  14. Season Stats pg. 125
  15. Season Stats pg. 125
  16. Season Stats pg. 125
  17. List of MVPs
  18. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/illinois/2001-schedule.html
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