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1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record18–5 (13–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPAndy Phillip
CaptainWilliam Hocking
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1941–42 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Illinois 13 2   .867 18 5   .783
Indiana 10 5   .667 15 6   .714
Wisconsin 10 5   .667 14 7   .667
Iowa 10 5   .667 12 8   .600
Minnesota 9 6   .600 15 6   .714
Purdue 9 6   .600 14 7   .667
Northwestern 5 10   .333 8 13   .381
Michigan 5 10   .333 6 14   .300
Ohio State 4 11   .267 6 14   .300
Chicago 0 15   .000 1 20   .048

The 1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

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The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 18 wins and 5 losses. Under the direction of head coach and athletic director Douglas Mills, the Illini grouped a team of players, all around 6' 3", into a nearly undefeatable lineup later to be known as "The Whiz Kids". This group captured the attention of the entire nation while winning back-to-back conference titles and combining for a 35-6 record, 25-2 in the Big Ten over those two seasons. They dazzled crowds everywhere averaging 58 points per game, while most teams were averaging in the low 40s. Primarily made up of sophomores, they dominated the 1941-42 conference basketball season by posting a 13 – 2 record. A starting lineup consisting of Arthur "Jack" Smiley, Ken Menke, Andy Phillip, Ellis "Gene" Vance, Victor Wukovits and Art Mathisen, developed a winning attitude that would maintain for the next 15 years, a time period where the Illini would finish no less than third in the conference for 13 of them. The 1942 NCAA tournament was only in its fourth year of existence and was staged around the collegiate basketball coaches convention being held at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The warm weather and unsufferable humidity caused the young Illini to lose two games in a period of two days.

The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012.

Roster

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1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 4 Henry Sachs 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Sr Chicago, Illinois
C 5 Raymond Bergeson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
So Bridgeton, New Jersey
G 6 Clifton Fulton 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Fr Pittsburg, Kansas
F 7 Raymond Grierson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Fr Champaign, Illinois
F 8 Edwin Parker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Jr Taft, California
G 9 Kenneth Parker 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Jr Granite City, Illinois
G 10 Bishop Barrick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
So Stillman Valley, Illinois
F 11 Kenneth Brown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
So Catlin, Illinois
F 12 David Dillon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Sr Sturgis, Michigan
C 13 Victor Wukovits 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Sr Mishawaka, Indiana
F 14 Johnson Johnson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
So -
G 15 Arthur Smiley 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
So Waterman, Illinois
G 16 William Hocking (C) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Sr Evanston, Illinois
F 17 Herbert Matter 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
So Naperville, Illinois
G 18 Robert Shapland 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
So Champaign, Illinois
C 19 Arthur Mathisen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Jr Dwight, Illinois
G 20 Daryl Shapiro 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
So Toledo, Ohio
G 25 Ellis Vance 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Jr Clinton, Illinois
F 33 Charles Fowler 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Fr Watseka, Illinois
F 38 Ken Menke 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
So Dundee, Illinois
G 47 Andrew Phillip 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
So Granite City, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/9/1941*
no, no
Marquette W 45–43  1–0
Huff Hall (3,990)
Champaign, IL
12/13/1941*
no, no
Chanute Field L 38–40  1–1
Huff Hall (4,068)
Champaign, IL
12/17/1941*
no, no
Butler W 52–50  2–1
Huff Hall (3,903)
Champaign, IL
12/20/1941*
no, no
at Detroit W 49–34  3–1
Titans Gymnasium (-)
Detroit, MI
12/23/1941*
no, no
Notre Dame W 48–29  4–1
Huff Hall (3,405)
Champaign, IL
12/30/1941*
no, no
Harvard W 39–30  5–1
Huff Hall (3,116)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1942
no, no
at Wisconsin W 55–40  6–1
(1–0)
Wisconsin Field House (7,000)
Madison, WI
1/10/1942
no, no
at Michigan W 44–40  7–1
(2–0)
Yost Fieldhouse (3,500)
Ann Arbor, MI
1/12/1942
no, no
at Ohio State W 58–49  8–1
(3–0)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (2,658)
Columbus, OH
1/17/1942
no, no
University of Chicago W 54–26  9–1
(4–0)
Huff Hall (4,349)
Champaign, IL
1/19/1942
no, no
Iowa
Rivalry
W 42–35  10–1
(5–0)
Huff Hall (5,195)
Champaign, IL
1/24/1942
no, no
Minnesota W 49–36  11-1
(6–0)
Huff Hall (7,051)
Champaign, IL
2/7/1942
no, no
Northwestern
Rivalry
W 41–33  12–1
(7–0)
Huff Hall (6,915)
Champaign, IL
2/9/1942
no, no
at Indiana
Rivalry
L 36–41  12–2
(7–1)
The Fieldhouse (6,200)
Bloomington, IN
2/14/1942
no, no
Michigan W 55–29  13–2
(8–1)
Huff Hall (3,500)
Champaign, IL
2/16/1942
no, no
at Minnesota W 41–37  14–2
(9–1)
Williams Arena (13,013)
Minneapolis, MN
2/21/1942
no, no
Ohio State W 48–31  15–2
(10–1)
Huff Hall (5,195)
Champaign, IL
2/23/1942
no, no
Wisconsin W 45–43  16–2
(11–1)
Huff Hall (6,105)
Champaign, IL
2/28/1942
no, no
at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 63–49  17–2
(12–1)
Chicago Stadium (18,000)
Chicago, IL
3/2/1942
no, no
at Iowa
Rivalry
L 32–46  17–3
(12–2)
Iowa Field House (13,500)
Iowa City, IA
3/7/1942
no, no
Purdue W 34–32  18–3
(13–2)
Huff Hall (7,035)
Champaign, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/20/1942*
no, no
vs. Kentucky
First Round
L 44–46  18–4
Tulane Gym (3,500)
New Orleans, LA
3/21/1942*
no, no
vs. Penn State
East Regional Third Place
L 34–41  18–5
Tulane Gym (3,500)
New Orleans, LA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[1]

Player stats

[edit]
Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Andy Phillip 23 87 58 232
Ken Menke 23 93 38 224
Victor Wukovits 23 51 35 137
Arthur Mathisen 22 41 48 130
Jack Smiley 23 43 20 106
Gene Vance 23 44 10 98
Charles Fowler 14 14 4 32
William Hocking 15 10 4 24
Henry Sachs 10 11 1 23
Edwin Parker 15 9 4 22
Raymond Grierson 4 3 0 6
Herbert Matter 2 2 0 4
David Dillon 3 1 1 3
Cliff Fulton 5 1 0 2
Raymond Bergeson 1 0 0 0
Bishop Barrick 1 0 0 0

[2]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1939–40 pg.79, FightingIllini.com
  2. ^ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  3. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.