1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
- Douglas R. Mills (7th season)
- Howie Braun (6th season)
- Wally Roettger (8th season)
| 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Record | 17–1 (12–0 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
|
| Assistant coaches |
|
| MVP | Andy Phillip |
| Captain | Arthur Mathisen |
| Home arena | Huff Hall |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 12 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 17 | – | 1 | .944 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 11 | – | 2 | .846 | 18 | – | 2 | .900 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 8 | – | 9 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 12 | – | 9 | .571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 5 | – | 7 | .417 | 8 | – | 9 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 5 | – | 7 | .417 | 8 | – | 9 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 7 | – | 10 | .412 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago | 0 | – | 9 | .000 | 0 | – | 21 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois, finishing the season with a 17-1 record. Illinois won the Big Ten Conference Title and finished the regular season as the nations' top ranked team in the Dunkel Index.[1] The season was cut short as three of the five starters headed off to active duty in the armed forces. Paced by a group of players known as the Whiz Kids, the team consisted of 20-year-old All-America forward Andy Phillip and teenagers Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley and team captain Art Mathisen. These players were so dominant in the Big Ten that only Northwestern's Otto Graham could crack the all-conference team.[2]
The Army drafted Mathisen, Menke and Smiley. Head coach Doug Mills made a decision in February 1943 that all five always supported: the club did not participate in either the NCAA or NIT tournament.[3] In June 1943, Vance and Phillip joined the military as well.[4] The team was retroactively listed as the top team of the season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[5]
Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6.
The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012.
Roster
| 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Schedule
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Conference regular season | |||||||||||
| 12/7/1942* |
Detroit | W 38–25 | 1–0 |
Huff Hall (5,277) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/12/1942* |
Nebraska | W 69–27 | 2–0 |
Huff Hall (4,884) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/14/1942* |
Missouri Rivalry |
W 51–30 | 3–0 |
Huff Hall (4,465) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/19/1942* |
at Great Lakes | W 57–53 | 4–0 |
Chicago Stadium (13,295) Chicago, IL | |||||||
| 12/21/1942* |
at Camp Grant | L 31–41 | 4–1 |
Camp Grant Y.M.C.A. (2,200) Rockford, IL | |||||||
| 1/2/1943* |
Stanford | W 38–26 | 5–1 |
Huff Hall (6,835) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
| 1/9/1943 |
Michigan | W 47–34 | 6–1 (1–0) |
Huff Hall (7,188) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 1/11/1943 |
at Wisconsin | W 47–34 | 7–1 (2–0) |
Wisconsin Field House (14,000) Madison, WI | |||||||
| 1/16/1943 |
Iowa Rivalry |
W 61–41 | 8–1 (3–0) |
Huff Hall (7,004) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 1/18/1943 |
Iowa Rivalry |
W 66–34 | 9–1 (4–0) |
Huff Hall (6,684) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/1/1943 |
Northwestern Rivalry |
W 68–51 | 10–1 (5–0) |
Huff Hall (6,766) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/6/1942 |
at Ohio State | W 60–48 | 11-1 (6–0) |
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (3,300) Columbus, OH | |||||||
| 2/8/1943 |
at Ohio State | W 50–44 | 12–1 (7–0) |
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (2,900) Columbus, OH | |||||||
| 2/13/1943 |
at Minnesota | W 56–35 | 13–1 (8–0) |
Williams Arena (6,800) Minneapolis, MN | |||||||
| 2/15/1943 |
at Minnesota | W 55–29 | 14–1 (9–0) |
Williams Arena (5,100) Minneapolis, MN | |||||||
| 2/20/1943 |
Wisconsin | W 50–26 | 15–1 (10–0) |
Huff Hall (7,102) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/27/1943 |
at Northwestern Rivalry |
W 68–51 | 16–1 (11–0) |
Chicago Stadium (19,880) Chicago, IL | |||||||
| 3/1/1943 |
University of Chicago | W 92–25 | 17–1 (12–0) |
Huff Hall (6,443) Champaign, IL | |||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Source[6]
Player stats
| Player | Games played | Field goals | Free throws | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Phillip | 18 | 131 | 43 | 305 |
| Arthur Mathisen | 18 | 86 | 51 | 201 |
| Ken Menke | 17 | 70 | 43 | 183 |
| Jack Smiley | 17 | 59 | 17 | 135 |
| Gene Vance | 18 | 56 | 14 | 126 |
| Edwin Parker | 18 | 12 | 10 | 34 |
| Oliver Shoaff | 14 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| Kenneth Parker | 14 | 7 | 2 | 16 |
| Alton Shirley | 14 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Cliff Fulton | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Herbert Matter | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Charles Fowler | 7 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| W.L. Miller | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Gordon Hortin | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Awards and honors
- Andy Phillip
- National Player of the Year
- Consensus All-American
- Converse 1st team All-American
- Helms 1st team All-American
- Pic Magazine 1st team All-American
- Look Magazine 1st team All-American
- Sporting News 1st team All-American
- Associated Press 1st team All-American
- United Press International 1st team All-American
- National Enterprise Association 1st team All-American
- Big Ten Player of the Year
- Team Most Valuable Player[8]
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
- Gene Vance
- Jack Smiley
- Art Mathisen