1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
1940–41 record	13–7 (7-5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Douglas Mills
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
Assistant coach	Wally Roettger
MVP	Bob Richmond
Captain	John Drish
Home arena	Huff Hall

1940–41 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
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

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

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]

Team

No.	Player	Position	Class	Hometown
4	Henry Sachs	Guard	Junior	Chicago, Illinois
5	Walter Evers	Forward	Junior	Collinsville, Illinois
6	Robert O'Neill	Center	Senior	Pitman, New Jersey
12	Robert Richmond	Guard	Senior
13	Victor Wukovits	Guard	Junior	Mishawaka, Indiana
14	Raymond Bergeson	Guard	Sophomore	Bridgeton, New Jersey
15	Ralph Hooker	Forward	Sophomore
16	William Hocking	Forward	Junior	Evanston, Illinois
17	Richard Albaugh	Forward	Sophomore
18	R. Keith Brown	Forward	Freshman	Pekin, Illinois
19	Arthur Mathisen	Center	Sophomore	Dwight, Illinois
20	Harold Shapiro	Guard	Senior	Chicago, Illinois
21	John Drish (captain)	Forward	Senior	Evanston, Illinois
22	Dick Driggs	Guard	Sophomore
23	Alton Shirley	Forward	Freshman	Edmond, Oklahoma
26	Kenneth Brown	Forward	Sophomore	Catlin, Illinois
27	J. Wayne Staley	Guard	Sophomore

Head Coach: Douglas Mills (5th year at Illinois) ^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 6, 1940	Georgia	38–34	Win	Champaign, IL	4,822
December 20, 1940	Pittsburgh	41–43	Loss	Champaign, IL	4,926
December 23, 1940	Notre Dame	41–39	Win	Notre Dame, IN	2,000
December 26, 1940	Manhattan	56–40	Win	New York, NY	12,237
December 28, 1940	Temple	41–42	Loss	Philadelphia, PA	7,247
December 31, 1940	Marquette	40–32	Win	Milwaukee, WI	5,800
January 2, 1941	Kansas State	45-29	Win	Champaign, IL	5,829
January 6, 1941	Purdue	49–34	Win	Champaign, IL	7,183
January 11, 1941	Indiana	38–48	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,946
January 13, 1941	Michigan	47–41	Win	Champaign, IL	5,619
January 18, 1941	Northwestern	42–41	Win	Evanston, IL	2,400
January 29, 1941	Mexico	53–30	Win	Champaign, IL	3,910
February 3, 1941	Purdue	29–46	Loss	West Lafayette, IN	8,500
February 8, 1941	Minnesota	38–50	Loss	Minneapolis, MN	10,500
February 10, 1941	University of Chicago	55–29	Win	Chicago, IL	3,500
February 15, 1941	Wisconsin	30-46	Loss	Madison, WI	13,300
February 17, 1941	Iowa	56–53	Win	Champaign, IL	4,500
February 22, 1941	Michigan	48–43	Win	Ann Arbor, MI	6,250
February 24, 1941	Ohio State	53–36	Win	Champaign, IL	4,480
March 1, 1941	University of Chicago	52–33	Win	Champaign, IL	4,518

Bold Italic connotes conference game

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

^[3]

Awards and honors

Bob Richmond
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[4]

References

↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
↑ All-Time Illini Rosters
↑ Season Stats
↑ List of MVPs

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)

Rivalries	Indiana Missouri

Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek

People	Head coaches NBA draftees Consensus All-Americans

Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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