1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record12–12 (8–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPDon Freeman
CaptainDon Freeman
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1965–66 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Michigan 11 – 3   .786 18 – 8   .692
Michigan State 10 – 4   .714 15 – 7   .682
Iowa 8 – 6   .571 17 – 7   .708
Illinois 8 – 6   .571 12 – 12   .500
Minnesota 7 – 7   .500 14 – 10   .583
Northwestern 7 – 7   .500 12 – 12   .500
Wisconsin 6 – 8   .429 11 – 13   .458
Ohio State 5 – 9   .357 11 – 13   .458
Indiana 4 – 10   .286 8 – 16   .333
Purdue 4 – 10   .286 8 – 16   .333
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

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Harry Combes entered his 19th season as the head coach of the Fighting Illini. The program was heading in a positive direction with six up-and-coming sophomores joining a varsity team that already included five juniors and five seniors. This balance was demonstrated within the starting lineup which included a rotation of two sophomores, two juniors and two seniors. The starters included, Don Freeman and Rich Jones as forwards, Preston Pearson and Bob Brown as guards, and Ron Dunlap at center.

It was during this season that Freeman would mark his place in Illini history by setting a record for most points in a season (668), while averaging 27.8 points per game. When he finished at Illinois, he had totaled 1449 points and averaged 20.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game over his three varsity seasons. This offensive output led to Freeman being named a 1st-team All-American by the Helms Foundation, a 2nd-team All-American by Converse and Basketball News, and honorable mention with UPI,

Roster

[edit]
1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 10 John Prescott 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Lake Forest High School Lake Forest, Illinois
G 11 Benny Louis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Pinckneyville Community High School Pinckneyville, Illinois
G 12 Greg Wright 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Homewood-Flossmoor High School Glenwood, Illinois
G/F 14 Jerry Mettille 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Morris Community High School Morris, Illinois
G 15 Donnie Freeman (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Madison High School Madison, Illinois
F 20 Rich Crusius 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Bloomington High School Bloomington, Illinois
F 21 Bob Johansen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Geneva High School Geneva, Illinois
G 24 Jim Dawson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr York High School Elmhurst, Illinois
G 25 Preston Pearson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Freeport High School Freeport, Illinois
F 30 Deon Flessner 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Fithian High School Fithian, Illinois
G 22 Jim Vopicka 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Morton West High School Brookfield, Illinois
F/C 33 Rich Jones 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Lester High School Memphis, Tennessee
C 35 Ron Dunlap 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Farragut Academy Chicago, Illinois
G/F 40 Bob Brown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr P. S. Dupont High School Wilmington, DE
F 43 Larry Hinton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Shelbyville High School Shelbyville, Illinois
F 44 Mike Graville 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Madison High School Madison, Illinois
F 54 Dan Lee 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Attica High School Attica, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[edit]

Source[1]

Date
time, TV 		Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1965*
no, no 		Butler W 88-74  1-0
 Assembly Hall (9,167)
Champaign, IL
12/3/1965*
no, no 		at BYU L 98-109  1-1
 Marriott Center (11,488)
Provo, Utah
12/4/1965*
no, no 		at No. 1 UCLA L 79-97  1-2
 Pauley Pavilion (12,365)
Los Angeles, CA
12/8/1965*
no, no 		Kentucky L 68-86  1-3
 Assembly Hall (7,966)
Champaign, IL
12/11/1965*
no, no 		West Virginia W 96-86  2-3
 Assembly Hall (6,251)
Champaign, IL
12/14/1965
no, no 		at Wisconsin W 90-70  3-3
(1-0) 		Wisconsin Field House (8,206)
Madison, WI
12/18/1965*
no, no 		vs. Princeton L 81-84  3-4
 Chicago Stadium (6,038)
Chicago, IL
12/27/1965*
no, no 		vs. Georgetown
ECAC Holiday Festival 		W 96-94  4-4
 Madison Square Garden (8,757)
New York, NY
12/28/1965*
no, no 		vs. No. 10 Providence
ECAC Holiday Festival 		L 79-81  4-5
 Madison Square Garden (12,239)
New York, NY
12/30/1965*
no, no 		vs. Army
ECAC Holiday Festival 		L 69-78  4-6
 Madison Square Garden (18,499)
New York, NY
Big Ten regular season
1/8/1966
no, no 		at Indiana
Rivalry 		W 98-84  5-6
(2-0) 		New Fieldhouse (7,502)
Bloomington, IN
1/11/1966
no, no 		Wisconsin W 80-64  6-6
(3-0) 		Assembly Hall (6,127)
Champaign, IL
1/15/1966
no, no 		at Purdue L 87-93  6-7
(3-1) 		Mackey Arena (8,936)
West Lafayette, IN
1/28/1966*
no, no 		vs. Notre Dame W 120-92  7-7
 Chicago Stadium (18,183)
Chicago, IL
2/1/1966
no, no 		at No. 4 Michigan W 99-93  8-7
(4-1) 		Crisler Arena (9,544)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/5/1966
no, no 		Ohio State W 78-77  9-7
(5-1) 		Assembly Hall (9,838)
Champaign, IL
2/7/1966
no, no 		Northwestern
Rivalry 		L 77-80  9-8
(5-2) 		Assembly Hall (7,695)
Champaign, IL
2/12/1966
no, no 		Indiana
Rivalry 		L 77-81  9-9
(5-3) 		Assembly Hall (8,175)
Champaign, IL
2/19/1966
no, no 		Minnesota W 100-89  10-9
(6-3) 		Assembly Hall (8,643)
Champaign, IL
2/22/1966
no, no 		at Michigan State L 66-68  10-10
(6-4) 		Jenison Fieldhouse (10,484)
East Lansing, MI
2/26/1966
no, no 		at Minnesota L 92-94  10-11
(6-5) 		Williams Arena (7,340)
Minneapolis, MN
2/28/1966
no, no 		Purdue W 98-81  11-11
(7-5) 		Assembly Hall (6,207)
Champaign, IL
3/5/1966
no, no 		Iowa
Rivalry 		W 106-90  12-11
(8-5) 		Assembly Hall (9,592)
Champaign, IL
3/7/1966
no, no 		at Northwestern
Rivalry 		L 76-84  12-12
(8-6) 		McGaw Memorial Hall (4,800)
Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

[edit]
Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Points
Don Freeman[2] 24 258 152 285 668
Rich Jones[3] 24 206 96 265 508
Jim Dawson[4] 24 163 42 100 368
Deon Flessner[5] 24 48 38 127 134
Bob Brown[6] 15 44 24 42 112
Preston Pearson[7] 22 38 30 68 106
Ron Dunlap[8] 23 28 32 109 88
Bob Johansen[9] 20 27 11 37 65
Larry Hinton[10] 20 12 7 13 31
Benny Louis[11] 15 4 4 12 12
Jerry Mettile[12] 6 2 2 2 6
Mike Graville 1 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors

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Team players drafted into the NBA

[edit]
Player NBA Club Round Pick
Don Freeman Philadelphia 76ers 3 9

[14]

Rankings

[edit]
Main article: 1965–66 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

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  1. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1965-66 Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  2. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  14. ^ 1966 NBA Draft Archived 2014-01-17 at the Wayback Machine
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