1976–77 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1976–77 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches #Not ranked
AP #Not ranked
1976–77 record 16–14 (8–10 Big Ten)
Head coach Lou Henson
Assistant coach Tony Yates
Assistant coach Bill Molinari
Assistant coach Les Wothke
MVP Audie Matthews
Captain Audie Matthews
Home arena Assembly Hall
1976–77 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#1 Michigan 16 2   .889     26 4   .867
Purdue 14 4   .778     20 8   .714
Iowa 12 6   .667     20 7   .741
Indiana 11 7   .611     16 11   .593
Michigan State 9 9   .500     12 15   .444
Illinois 8 10   .444     16 14   .533
Wisconsin 7 11   .389     11 16   .407
Northwestern 7 11   .389     9 18   .333
Ohio State 6 12   .333     11 16   .407
#13 Minnesota* 0 18   .000     0 27   .000
Rankings from AP Poll
*Minnesota forfeited all games due to NCAA sanctions.
Disputed record (15-3, 24-3)

The 1976–77 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1976-77 team would include Lou Henson's first group of recruited athletes. Levi Cobb, Neil Bresnahan, and Steve Lanter contributed to a quick start on the season and a 7-1 record. The team's only loss was by 1 point at the hands of Missouri in the Show Me Classic played in Columbia, MO. Before the Big Ten season commenced the Illini had staked themselves to an 8-4 record, yet the fans support still did not yet believe in Henson's squad.

A mere 6,938 fans attended a mid-December Saturday afternoon game versus Arizona State. Even with fewer fans coming out, the team set a series of offensive records in the Big Ten opener against Ohio State. The records included converting on 19 of their first 21 shots and shooting 69.4 percent for the game.

During the course of the season the Illini would lose twice to the Golden Gophers, however, before the NCAA Tournament it was determined that Minnesota had committed violations that resulted in sanctions against them, including the forfeiture of all of their games. This gave the Illini two additional wins and a final record of 16-14, with an 8-10 conference mark.

The team's starting lineup included Rick Leighty, Ken Ferdinand and Levi Cobb as forwards, Audie Matthews and Steve Lanter at the guard positions, and Rich Adams playing center.

Team

No. Player Hometown High School Class Position
10 Rick Kirby Urbana, Illinois Urbana High School Fr. Guard
12 Ken Ferdinand Urbana, Illinois Urbana High School So. Forward
20 Jeff Berry Chicago, Illinois Morgan Park High School Fr. Guard
21 Steve Lanter Belleville, Illinois Mascoutah Community High School Fr. Guard
23 Larry Lubin Glencoe, Illinois New Trier High School So. Guard
24 Tom Gerhardt Chicago, Illinois De La Salle High School Jr. Forward
30 Rob Judson Zion, Illinois Zion-Benton High School Fr. Guard
31 Neil Bresnahan Oak Park, Illinois Fenwick High School Fr. Forward
32 Levi Cobb Chicago, Illinois Morgan Park High School Fr. Forward
34 Rick Leighty Lawrenceville, Illinois Lawrenceville High School Fr. Forward
40 Rich Adams Cincinnati, Ohio Colerain High School Jr. Forward
42 Tim Bushell Lincoln, Illinois Lincoln Community High School Fr. Forward
43 Audie Matthews (capt.) Chicago Heights, Illinois Bloom High School Jr. Forward

Schedule

Source[2]

Date Opponent Result Record Site (Attendance)
11/26/1976* @ St. Louis W 68-65  1 - 0 Kiel Auditorium (9,148)
12/3/1976* @ Missouri
(Show Me Classic)
L 75-76  1 - 1 Hearnes Center (5,227)
12/4/1976* vs St. Louis
(Show-Me Classic)
W 54-46  2 - 1 {{{site_stadium}}} (5,227)
12/8/1976* vs. San Jose State W 84-70  3 - 1 Assembly Hall (6,113)
12/11/1976* vs. Nebraska W 67-63  4 - 1 Assembly Hall (7,055)
12/13/1976* vs. Cleveland State
(Illini Classic)
W 72-70  5 - 1 Assembly Hall (5,389)
12/17/1976* vs. Cal Poly
(Illini Classic)
W 67-65  6 - 1 Assembly Hall (5,489)
12/18/1976* vs. Arizona State W 80-74  7 - 1 Assembly Hall (6,938)
12/27/1976* vs. Houston
(Rainbow Classic)
L 66-69  7 - 2 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-)
12/29/1976* vs. William & Mary
(Rainbow Classic)
W 73-64  8 - 2 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-)
12/30/1976* vs. St. John's
(Rainbow Classic)
L 52-56  8 - 3 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (1,849)
1/1/1977* @ Long Beach State L 81-71  8 - 4 Gold Mine (4,030)
1/6/1977 @ Ohio State W 89-72  9 - 4 ( 1 - 0 ) St. John's Arena (6,907)
1/8/1977 @ Indiana L 60-80  9 - 5 ( 1 - 1 ) Assembly Hall (16,497)
1/13/1977 vs. #9 Minnesota W 69-83  10 - 5 ( 2 - 1 ) Assembly Hall (7,689)
1/15/1977 vs. Iowa L 81-84 ot 10 - 6 ( 2 - 2 ) Assembly Hall (7,246)
1/20/1977 @ Michigan State L 58-67  10 - 7 ( 2 - 3 ) Jenison Fieldhouse (3,417)
1/22/1977 @ #5 Michigan L 61-66  10 - 8 ( 2 - 4 ) Crisler Arena (13,609)
1/24/1977 vs. Northwestern W 71-68  11 - 8 ( 3 - 4 ) Assembly Hall (5,810)
1/29/1977 @ #18 Purdue L 63-66  11 - 9 ( 3 - 5 ) Mackey Arena (12,800)
2/3/1977 vs. Wisconsin W 82-72  12 - 9 ( 4 - 5 ) Assembly Hall (6,144)
2/5/1977 vs. #18 Purdue W 71-70  13 - 9 ( 5 - 5 ) Assembly Hall (9,700)
2/10/1977 @ Northwestern W 65-63  14 - 9 ( 6 - 5 ) Welsh-Ryan Arena (3,966)
2/12/1977 @ Wisconsin L 50-62  13 - 8 ( 6 - 6 ) Wisconsin Field House (7,589)
2/17/1977 vs. Indiana W 73-69  14 - 8 ( 7 - 6 ) Assembly Hall (11,172)
2/19/1977 vs. Ohio State L 60-64  14 - 9 ( 7 - 7 ) Assembly Hall (8,849)
2/24/1977 @ Iowa L 64-76  14 - 10 ( 7 - 8 ) Iowa Field House (9,875)
2/26/1977 @ #13 Minnesota W 70-72  15 - 10 ( 8 - 8 ) Williams Arena (15,163)
3/3/1977 vs. #3 Michigan L 72-87  15 - 11 ( 8 - 9 ) Assembly Hall (10,524)
3/5/1977 vs. Michigan State L 61-62  15 - 12 ( 8 - 10 ) Assembly Hall (8,021)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. ( ) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Assists Points
Audie Matthews[3]302027515175479
Rich Adams[4] 301714517162387
Larry Miller[5]301265819257326
Ken Ferdinand[6]291094310827261
Neil Bresnahan[7] 28804613831206
Steve Lanter[8]30763949103191
Rick Leighty[9] 2645117237101

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round Pick Player NBA Club

[11]

References