1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Big Ten conference champions
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 5
1950–51 record22–5 (13-1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPDon Sunderlage
CaptainDon Sunderlage
Home arenaHuff Hall
1950–51 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 5 Illinois131 .929  225  .815
No. 7 Indiana122 .857  193  .864
Iowa95 .643  157  .682
Minnesota77 .500  139  .591
Northwestern77 .500  1210  .545
Wisconsin77 .500  1012  .455
Michigan State59 .357  1011  .476
Purdue410 .286  814  .364
Michigan311 .214  715  .318
Ohio State311 .214  616  .273
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

A 13 win conference season marked only the second time since 1942 that the Fighting Illini men's basketball team had completed that feat. The only time they finished with a better conference record was 1943, where they completed the season with a perfect 12-0 record. Head coach Harry Combes had guided his team to a Big Ten championship, a third-place finish in the 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 5 in the nation. This was Combes 2nd Big Ten Championship as well as his 2nd third-place finish in the NCAA tournament within his first 4 years as head coach. The 1950-51 team compiled an overall record of 22 wins and 5 losses with a conference record of 13 wins and 1 loss. The season featured a rematch with Kentucky, which had downed the Illini in the national semifinals in 1949. Illinois beat Columbia, 79-71, and North Carolina State, 84-70, to get to the national semifinals and a rematch with the Wildcats. In a heart-breaking loss, Kentucky nipped Illinois, 76-74, on a shot by Wildcat sub Shelby Linville with 12 seconds remaining in the game. The Illini collected third place nationally by beating Oklahoma A&M, 61-46, in Minneapolis. The starting lineup included captain Donald Sunderlage and Theodore Beach as forwards, Rodney Fletcher and Irving Bemoras at guard and Robert Peterson and Mack Follmer rotating at the center position.[1]

Roster

1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 8 Theodore Beach 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)165 lb (75 kg) SrChampaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
F 11 Don Sunderlage (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)180 lb (82 kg) SrElgin High School Elgin, Illinois
G 19 James Bredar 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)167 lb (76 kg) SoSalem High School Salem, Illinois
F 24 Ed Makovsky 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)194 lb (88 kg) FrMorton High School Cicero, Illinois
C 25 Robert Peterson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)235 lb (107 kg) SoElgin High School Wayne, Illinois
G 26 Irving Bemoras 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m)185 lb (84 kg) SoMarshall High School Chicago, Illinois
C 27 Mack Follmer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)200 lb (91 kg) JrForrest High School Forrest, Illinois
F 29 Max Baumgardner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)175 lb (79 kg) SoSterling High School Sterling, Illinois
F 33 Clive Follmer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoForrest High School Forrest, Illinois
G 34 Seymour Gantman 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)165 lb (75 kg) JrMarshall High School Chicago, Illinois
G 35 Ren Alde 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrPana High School Pana, Illinois
G 37 Rod Fletcher 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)194 lb (88 kg) JrChampaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
G 38 Herb Gerecke 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrPekin High School Pekin, Illinois
F 41 Max Hooper 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)200 lb (91 kg) FrMt. Vernon High School Mt. Vernon, Illinois
G 47 Dick Christiansen 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrNew Trier High School Winnetka, Illinois
G 48 James Schuldt 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoDundee Community High School Dundee, Illinois
John Marks
SrEdwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
Richard Ems
JrFisher High School Fisher, Illinois
James Hoffman
Fr
George Shapland
Fr
Andy Toth
Fr
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (14th year)
  • Cliff Fulton (University of Illinois) (1st year)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[4]
Non-Conference regular season
12/4/1950*
no, no
No. NR Marquette W 66–47  1-0
Huff Hall (6,532)
Champaign, IL
12/8/1950*
no, no
No. NR Oregon State W 74–51  2-0
Huff Hall (6,400)
Champaign, IL
12/9/1950*
no, no
No. NR Toledo L 54–68  2-1
The Field House (6,300)
Toledo, OH
12/16/1950*
no, no
No. NR DePaul W 69–68  3-1
Chicago Stadium (12,000)
Chicago, IL
12/20/1950*
no, no
No. NR Washington State W 71–48  4-1
Huff Hall (2,575)
Champaign, IL
12/22/1950*
no, no
No. NR Pennsylvania W 75–65  5-1
Huff Hall (2,411)
Champaign, IL
12/28/1950*
no, no
No. 20 DePaul L 65–68  5-2
Huff Hall (5,942)
Champaign, IL
12/29/1950*
no, no
No. 20 Butler W 88–52  6-2
Huff Hall (2,921)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/1/1951
no, no
No. 20 Wisconsin W 71–69 OT 7-2 (1-0)
Wisconsin Field House (12,500)
Madison, WI
1/6/1951
no, no
No. NR Minnesota W 70–62  8-2 (2-0)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/8/1951
no, no
No. NR Iowa
Rivalry
L 62–83  9-2 (3-0)
Iowa Field House (13,732)
Iowa City, IA
1/13/1951
no, no
No. 14 Michigan W 68–47  10-2 (4-0)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/15/1951
no, no
No. 14 Indiana (No. 6)
Rivalry
L 53–64  10-3 (4-1)
The Fieldhouse (10,283)
Bloomington, IN
1/20/1951
no, no
No. 14 Iowa
Rivalry
W 69–53  11-3 (5-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/5/1951
no, no
No. 14 Purdue W 85–76  12-3 (6-1)
Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000)
West Lafayette, IN
2/10/1951
no, no
No. 16 Wisconsin W 63–52  13-3 (7-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/12/1951
no, no
No. 16 Ohio State W 79–59  14-3 (8-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/17/1951
no, no
No. 11 Purdue W 70–65  15-3 (9-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/19/1951
no, no
No. 11 Indiana (No. 6)
Rivalry
W 71–65  16-3 (10-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/24/1951
no, no
No. 10 Ohio State W 89–69  17-3 (11-1)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (4,220)
Columbus, OH
3/3/1951
no, no
No. 6 Northwestern W 80–76  18-3 (12-1)
Patten Gymnasium (18,000)
Evanston, IL
3/5/1951
no, no
No. 5 Michigan State W 49–43  19-3 (13-1)
Jenison Fieldhouse (6,234)
East Lansing, MI
NCAA Tournament
3/14/1951*
no, no
No. 5 Kansas State
NCAA Tournament Warm-Up Game
L 72–91  19-4
Ahearn Field House (14,000)
Manhattan, KS
3/20/1951*
no, no
No. 5 vs. Columbia (No. 3)
NCAA Tournament First Round
W 79–71  20-4
Madison Square Garden (17,107)
New York, NY
3/22/1951*
no, no
No. 5 North Carolina State (No. 8)
NCAA Tournament Second Round
W 84–70  21-4
Madison Square Garden (17,000)
New York, NY
3/24/1951*
no, no
No. 5 Kentucky (No. 1)
NCAA Tournament East Regional Final
L 74–76  21-5
Madison Square Garden (17,000)
New York, NY
3/27/1951*
no, no
No. 5 Oklahoma A&M (No. 14)
NCAA Tournament 3rd Place Game
W 57–53  22-5
Williams Arena (15,438)
Minneapolis, MN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Don Sunderlage27150171471
Ted Beach2712447295
Rod Fletcher2711560290
Clive Follmer278864240
Bob Peterson278567237
Irv Bemoras278349215
Max Baumgardner23291169
Jim Bredar2015434
Mack Follmer129321
Herb Gerecke115515
Dick Christiansen76315
John Marks8408
Jim Schuldt16146
Seymour Gantman5033
Richard Ems1102

[5]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick
Don SunderlagePhiladelphia Warriors19
Ted BeachIndianapolis Olympians773

[7]

References

  1. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. Men's Basketball Roster
  3. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1950-51 Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  4. Schedule
  5. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  6. List of MVPs
  7. 1951 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
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