1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Big Ten champions
Conference Big Ten Conference
1942–43 record 17–1 (12–0 Big Ten)
Head coach Douglas R. Mills
Home arena Huff Hall
Seasons
« 1941–42 1943–44 »

The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illiniois. The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss. The season was cut short as three of the five starters headed off to active duty in the armed forces. Illinois won the Big Ten Conference Title and had finished the regular season as the nations' top ranked team. 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 Art Mathisen. These players were so dominant in the Big Ten, that only Northwestern's Otto Graham could crack the all-conference team.[1]

The Army drafted Mathisen, Menke and Smiley. That left only Vance and Phillip, both good enough to be selected to Illinois' All-Century team. But 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.[2] Wyoming's NCAA championship that season may not have happened had Illinois’ season not coincided with World War II.

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.

Contents

Team

Record

Date Opponent Score Result Location
December 7, 1942 Detroit 38–25 Win Champaign, IL
December 12, 1942 Nebraska 69–27 Win Champaign, IL
December 14, 1942 Missouri 51–30 Win Champaign, IL
December 19, 1942 Great Lakes 57–53 Win Champaign, IL
December 21, 1942 Camp Grant 31–41 Loss Rockford, IL
January 2, 1943 Stanford 38–26 Win Champaign, IL
January 9, 1943 Michigan 47–34 Win Champaign, IL
January 11, 1943 Wisconsin 47–34 Win Madison, WI
January 16, 1943 Iowa 61–41 Win Champaign, IL
January 18, 1943 Iowa 66–34 Win Champaign, IL
February 1, 1943 Northwestern 68–51 Win Champaign, IL
February 6, 1943 Ohio State 60–48 Win Columbus, OH
February 8, 1943 Ohio State 50–44 Win Columbus, OH
February 8, 1943 Minnesota 56–35 Win Minneapolis, MN
February 15, 1943 Minnesota 67–43 Win Minneapolis, MN
February 20, 1943 Wisconsin 50–26 Win Champaign, IL
February 27, 1943 Northwestern 68–51 Win Evanston, IL
February 27, 1943 University of Chicago 92–25 Win Champaign, IL

Awards and honors

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0747268.html
  2. ^ http://www.mylosingseason.com/2007/01/sailors-ferrin-mikan-and-great-santini.html

External links

Team
Players · Assembly Hall · Orange Krush · Flyin' Illini · Whiz Kids
Head coaches
Elwood Brown · F. L. Pinckney · Fletcher Lane · Herb Juul · T. E. Thompson · Ralph Jones · Frank Winters · J. Craig Ruby · Douglas Mills · Harry Combes · Harv Schmidt · Gene Bartow · Lou Henson · Lon Kruger · Bill Self · Bruce Weber
National players of the year
Championships
Helm's Foundation (National): 1915
Big Ten (Regular season): 1915, 1917, 1924, 1935, 1937, 1942, 1943, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1963, 1984, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005
Big Ten (Tournament): 2003, 2005
1905–1925
1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909 • 1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915 • 1916 • 1917 • 1918 • 1919 • 1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925
1925–1950
1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929  • 1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945  • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950
1950–1975
1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956  • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975
1975–2000
1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000
2000–2025
2001 • 2002 • 2003* • 2004 • 2005* • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012
Bold Italic connotes national championship, Italic connotes final four appearance, underline connotes Big Ten regular season championship, * means Big Ten Tournament championship