1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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The 1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
- Douglas Mills (5th season)
- Howie Braun (4th season)
- Wally Roettger (6th season)
| 1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
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| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Record | 13–7 (7-5 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| MVP | Bob Richmond |
| Captain | John Drish |
| Home arena | Huff Hall |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 11 | – | 1 | .917 | 20 | – | 3 | .870 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 10 | – | 2 | .833 | 17 | – | 3 | .850 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 5 | – | 7 | .417 | 9 | – | 10 | .474 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago | 0 | – | 12 | .000 | 4 | – | 16 | .200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
A new decade had begun for the Fighting Illini, a decade which brought much success to Illinois basketball. Head Coach Doug Mills led the Illini to consecutive Big Ten titles in 1942 and 1943. The Illini would add another league championship under Harry Combes in 1949. The Illini were the 13th-winningest Division I team in the nation in the 1940s. Illinois’ 150–57 record and .725 winning percentage was the best in the Big Ten. In 1941, Mills added to his coaching duties when he was named the school's athletic director as well as continuing on as the head coach. Mills entered his fifth season with the Illini and, just as his teams had done the previous 4 seasons, had a nearly perfect record on the home court finishing with an 8–2 record. Unfortunately for the Illini they finished with a 5–5 record on the road to finish in a third place tie overall in conference action. Mills' team featured 8 returning letterman and had a starting lineup including team captain John Drish and Harold Shapiro at forward, Art Mathisen at the center position, and Victor Wukovits and Robert Richmond as guards. The team also featured future major league baseball player Walter Evers[1]
Roster
| 1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Conference regular season | |||||||||||
| 12/6/1940* |
Georgia | W 38–34 | 1–0 |
Huff Hall (4,822) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/20/1940* |
Pittsburgh | L 41–43 | 1–1 |
Huff Hall (4,926) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/23/1940* |
at Notre Dame | W 41–39 | 2–1 |
Notre Dame Fieldhouse (2,000) Notre Dame, IN | |||||||
| 12/26/1940* |
at Manhattan | W 56–40 | 3–1 |
Madison Square Garden (12,237) New York, NY | |||||||
| 12/28/1940* |
at Temple | L 41–42 | 3–2 |
Municipal Auditorium (7,247) Philadelphia, PA | |||||||
| 12/31/1940* |
at Marquette | W 40–32 | 4–2 |
Marquette Gymnasium (5,800) Milwaukee, WI | |||||||
| 1/2/1941* |
Kansas State | W 45-29 | 5–2 |
Huff Hall (5,829) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
| 1/6/1941 |
Purdue | W 49–34 | 6–2 (1–0) |
Huff Hall (7,183) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 1/11/1941 |
Indiana Rivalry |
L 38–48 | 6–3 (1–1) |
Huff Hall (6,946) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 1/13/1941 |
Michigan | W 47–41 | 7–3 (2–1) |
Huff Hall (5,619) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 1/18/1941 |
at Northwestern Rivalry |
W 42–41 | 8–3 (3–1) |
Patten Gymnasium (2,400) Evanston, IL | |||||||
| 1/29/1941* |
Mexico | W 53–30 | 9-3 |
Huff Hall (3,910) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/3/1941 |
at Purdue | L 29–46 | 9–4 (3–2) |
Lambert Fieldhouse (8,500) West Lafayette, IN | |||||||
| 2/8/1941 |
Minnesota | L 38–50 | 9–5 (3–3) |
Huff Hall (10,500) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/10/1941 |
at University of Chicago | W 55–29 | 10–5 (4–3) |
Henry Crown Field House (3,500) Chicago, IL | |||||||
| 2/15/1941 |
at Wisconsin | L 30-46 | 10–6 (4–4) |
Wisconsin Field House (13,300) Madison, WI | |||||||
| 2/17/1941 |
Iowa Rivalry |
W 56–53 | 11–6 (5–4) |
Huff Hall (4,500) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/22/1941 |
at Michigan | L 31–47 | 11–7 (5–5) |
Yost Fieldhouse (6,250) Ann Arbor, MI | |||||||
| 2/24/1941 |
Ohio State | W 53–36 | 12–7 (6–5) |
Huff Hall (4,480) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 3/1/1941 |
University of Chicago | W 52–33 | 13–7 (7–5) |
Huff Hall (4,518) Champaign, IL | |||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Source[2]
Player stats
| Player | Games played | Field goals | Free throws | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Mathisen | 20 | 65 | 48 | 178 |
| Robert Richmond | 20 | 47 | 47 | 141 |
| Walter Evers | 11 | 49 | 27 | 125 |
| John Drish | 20 | 39 | 16 | 94 |
| Victor Wukovits | 20 | 25 | 30 | 80 |
| Harold Shapiro | 18 | 32 | 9 | 73 |
| David Dillon | 9 | 18 | 5 | 41 |
| Henry Sachs | 10 | 16 | 5 | 37 |
| Alton Shirley | 16 | 11 | 6 | 28 |
| William Hocking | 17 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
| Robert O'Neill | 14 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| Stanley Wayne | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Dick Driggs | 8 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Keith Brown | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Ralph Hooker | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Richard Albaugh | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kenneth Brown | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Awards and honors
- Bob Richmond
- Team Most Valuable Player [4]