1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
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Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches #4
AP #5
1950–51 record 22–5 (13-1 Big Ten)
Head coach Harry Combes
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Cliff Fulton
MVP Don Sunderlage
Captain Don Sunderlage
Home arena Huff Hall
Seasons
« 1949–50 1951–52 »
1950–51 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#5 Illinois 13 – 1   .929     22 – 5   .815
#7 Indiana 12 – 2   .857     19 – 3   .864
Iowa 9 – 5   .643     15 – 7   .682
Minnesota 7 – 7   .500     13 – 9   .591
Northwestern 7 – 7   .500     12 – 10   .545
Wisconsin 7 – 7   .500     10 – 12   .455
Michigan State 5 – 9   .357     10 – 11   .476
Purdue 4 – 10   .286     8 – 14   .364
Michigan 3 – 11   .214     7 – 15   .318
Ohio State 3 – 11   .214     6 – 16   .273
Rankings from AP Poll

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

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

No. Player Position Height Weight Class Hometown High School
8 Theodore Beach Forward 6-1 165 Senior Marion, Illinois Marion High School
11 Donald Sunderlage (captain) Forward 6-1 180 Senior Elgin, Illinois Elgin High School
19 James Bredar Guard 5–11 167 Sophomore Salem, Illinois Salem High School
22 Johnny Kerr Center 6–9 205 Sophomore Chicago, Illinois Tilden High School
24 Ed Makovsky Forward 6–5 194 Freshman Cicero, Illinois Morton High School
25 Robert Peterson Center 6–8 235 Sophomore Wayne, Illinois Elgin High School
26 Irving Bemoras Guard 6–3 1/2 185 Sophomore Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School
27 Mack Follmer Center 6–4 200 Junior Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School
29 Max Baumgardner Forward 6-3 175 Sophomore Sterling, Illinois Sterling High School
33 Clive Follmer Forward 6-4 195 Sophomore Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School
34 Seymour Gantman Guard 5–7 165 Junior Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School
35 Ren Alde Guard 6–2 180 Junior Pana, Illinois Pana Senior High School
37 Rod Fletcher Guard 6–4 194 Junior Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School
38 Herb Gerecke Guard 6–1 180 Junior Pekin, Illinois Pekin High School
41 Max Hooper Forward 6–5 200 Sophomore Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School
47 Dick Christiansen Forward 6–3 1/2 180 Junior Winnetka, Illinois New Trier High School
48 James Schuldt Guard 6–0 193 Sophomore Dundee, Illinois Dundee Community High School
John Marks Reserve Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville High School
Richard Ems Reserve
James Hoffman Reserve
George Shapland Reserve
Andy Toth Reserve

Schedule

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
December 4, 1950 Marquette 66–47 Win Champaign, IL 6,532
December 8, 1950 Oregon State 74–51 Win Champaign, IL 6,400
December 9, 1950 Toledo 54–68 Loss Toledo, OH 6,300
December 16, 1950 DePaul 69–68 Win Chicago, IL 12,000
December 20, 1950 Washington State 71–48 Win Champaign, IL 2,575
December 22, 1950 Pennsylvania 75–65 Win Champaign, IL 2,411
December 28, 1950 DePaul 65–68 Loss Champaign, IL 5,942
December 29, 1950 Butler 88–52 Win Champaign, IL 2,921
January 1, 1951 Wisconsin 71–69 (OT) Win Madison, WI 12,500
January 6, 1951 Minnesota 70–62 Win Champaign, IL 6,905
January 8, 1951 Iowa 72–69 Win Iowa City, IA 13,732
January 13, 1951 Michigan 68–47 Win Champaign, IL 6,905
January 15, 1951 Indiana (ranked No. 6) 53–64 Loss Bloomington, IN 10,283
January 20, 1951 Iowa 69–53 Win Champaign, IL 6,905
February 5, 1951 Purdue 85–76 Win West Lafayette, IN 10,000
February 10, 1951 Wisconsin 63–52 Win Champaign, IL 6,905
February 12, 1951 Ohio State 79–59 Win Champaign, IL 6,905
February 17, 1951 Purdue 70–65 Win Champaign, IL 6,905
February 19, 1951 Indiana (ranked No. 6) 71–65 Win Champaign, IL 6,905
February 24, 1951 Ohio State 89–69 Win Columbus, OH 4,220
March 3, 1951 Northwestern 80–76 Win Evanston, IL 18,000
March 5, 1951 Michigan State 49–43 Win East Lansing, MI 6,234

Bold Italic connotes conference game

NCAA Tournament Warmup, at Manhattan, KS

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
March 14, 1951 Kansas State 72–91 Loss Manhattan, KS 14,000

NCAA Eastern Playoffs, New York

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
March 20, 1951 Columbia (ranked No. 3) 79–71 Win New York, NY 17,107
March 22, 1951 North Carolina State (ranked No. 8) 84–70 Win New York, NY 17,000
March 24, 1951 Kentucky (ranked No. 1) 74–76 Loss New York, NY 17,000

NCAA Finals, Minneapolis

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
March 27, 1951 Oklahoma A&M (ranked No. 14) 61–46 Win Minneapolis, MN 15,438

NCAA basketball tournament

  • East
    • Illinois 79, Columbia 71
    • Illinois 84, North Carolina State 70
  • Final Four
    • Kentucky 76, Illinois 74
  • Third Place Game
    • Illinois 61, Oklahoma State 46

[3]

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Don Sunderlage 27 150 171 471
Ted Beach 27 124 47 295
Rod Fletcher 27 115 60 290
Clive Follmer 27 88 64 240
Bob Peterson 27 85 67 237
Irv Bemoras 27 83 49 215
Max Baumgardner 23 29 11 69
Jim Bredar 20 15 4 34
Mack Follmer 16 9 3 21
Herb Gerecke 11 5 5 15
Dick Christiansen 8 6 3 15
John Marks 8 4 0 8
Jim Schuldt 11 1 4 6
Seymour Gantman 5 0 3 3
Richard Ems 1 1 0 2

[4]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round Pick Player NBA Club
1 9 Don Sunderlage Philadelphia Warriors
7 73 Ted Beach Indianapolis Olympians

[6]

Rankings

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Main article: 1950–51 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

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  1. ↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ↑ All-Time Illini Rosters
  3. ↑ http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1951
  4. ↑ Season Stats
  5. ↑ List of MVPs
  6. ↑ 1951 NBA Draft
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