1964–65 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1964-65 Illinois Fighting Illini 1964–65_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 16 18-6 10-4 Harry Combes Howie Braun Jim Wright 18th 28th 7th Skip Thoren Skip Thoren Assembly Hall Kentucky Invitational Tournament Champion The 1964–65 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season Head coach Harry Combes Fighting Illini basketball team returned to their winning ways for the 1964–65 season. Even though they were not ranked in the pre-season top 20 of college basketball teams, they peaked at #6 during the course of the season in the Associated Press and finished the season ranked #16 in the coaches poll. During the course of the season, the Illini would play in two mid-season tournaments and participate 24 regular season games, the most since 1908 when they played in 26. The tournaments the Illini would participate in would be the ECAC Quaker City Tournament in Philadelphia and a return trip to the Kentucky Invitational Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky. The highlight of the season would happen in the season opener when the Illini would defeat the previous season's national champion UCLA Bruins by a score of 110–83. The 1965 Bruins would finish with a 28–2 record and their second national championship. The 1964–65 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer, team "MVP" and captain, Skip Thoren. It also saw the return of team seniors Tal Brody, Bogie Redmon, Bill McKeown as well as Juniors Don Freeman, Jim Vopicka and Larry Hinton to their lineup. It also included sophomores Jim Dawson, Bob Johansen and future Dallas Cowboy, Preston Pearson. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 10 wins and 4 losses, finishing in 3rd place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 18 wins and 6 losses. The starting lineup included Skip Thoren at the center position, Tal Brody and Jim Dawson at guard and Don Freeman and Bogie Redmon at the forward slots.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History by News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC 1-58261-356-7 Roster 1964 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Larry Miller 11 G 5 8 161 SR Connellsville, Pennsylvania Connellsville High School n Tal Brody 12 G 6 2 173 SR Trenton, New Jersey Central High School y Jerry Mettille 14 F 6 4 179 SO Morris, Illinois Morris Community High School n Donnie Freeman 15 G 6 2 179 JR Madison, Illinois Madison High School y basketball, born 1944 Bob Johansen 21 F 6 4 185 SO Geneva, Illinois Geneva High School n Jim Vopicka 22 G 6 1 175 JR Brookfield, Illinois Morton West High School n Ron Beeks 23 G 6 1 180 SR Princeton, New Jersey Princeton High School n Jim Dawson 24 G 6 0 172 SO Elmhurst, Illinois York High School y Jimmy Dawson (basketball, born 1945) Preston Pearson 25 G 6 1 195 SO Freeport, Illinois Freeport High School y Deon Flessner 30 F 6 4 193 SO Fithian, Illinois Fithian High School n Bogie Redmon 33 F 6 5 225 SR Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville High School n Bill McKeown 34 G 6 2 185 SR Clinton, Illinois Clinton High School n Skip Thoren 35 C 6 8 232 SR Rockford, Illinois Rockford East High School y C Bob Brown 40 G/F 6 2 190 JR Wilmington, DE P. S. Dupont High School n Larry Hinton 43 F 6 2 194 JR Shelbyville, Illinois Shelbyville High School n Mike Graville 44 F 6 1 175 JR Madison, Illinois Madison High School n Dan Lee 54 F 6 3 175 JR Attica, Indiana Attica High School n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (18th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (28th year) Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (7th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1964-65 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1964-65 https://web.archive.org/web/20140308003801/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1964.html 2014-03-08 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/4/1964 yes 2 UCLA Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 110-83 11,873 1-0 12/5/1964 yes yes 1964 Saint Louis Billikens St. Louis Kiel Auditorium St. Louis, MO 64-79 9,230 1-1 12/8/1964 yes 1964 Bowling Green Falcons Bowling Green Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 100-62 9,889 2-1 12/12/1964 yes 1964 Washington University Bears Washington (St. Louis) Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 103-59 9,027 3-1 12/15/1964 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 70-56 9,538 4-1 1-0 12/18/1964 yes yes 1964 Dayton Flyers Dayton Memorial Coliseum Lexington, KY Kentucky Invitational Tournament 104-86 11,800 5-1 12/19/1964 yes yes 8 1964 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky Memorial Coliseum Lexington, KY Kentucky Invitational Tournament 91-86 11,800 6-1 12/26/1964 7 yes yes 1964 NYU Violets NYU Palestra Philadelphia, PA ECAC Quaker City Tournament 102-79 9,500 7-1 12/28/1964 7 yes yes 1964 Saint Joseph's Hawks St. Joseph's Palestra Philadelphia, PA ECAC Quaker City Tournament 71-75 9,500 7-2 12/29/1964 6 yes yes 1964 Villanova Wildcats Villanova Palestra Philadelphia, PA ECAC Quaker City Tournament 74-65 9,500 8-2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/4/1965 6 2 Indiana Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 88-81 16,128 9-2 2-0 1/9/1965 yes 3 Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 83-89 7,600 9-3 2-1 1/16/1965 1964 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 75-72 10,789 10-3 3-1 1/30/1965 yes yes 1964 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 101-87 16,746 11-3 2/6/1965 1964 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 121-93 8,828 12-3 4-1 2/8/1965 yes 1964 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 86-71 7,626 13-3 5-1 2/13/1965 10 yes 1964 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 90-105 8,184 13-4 5-2 2/16/1965 Ohio State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 95-72 8,751 14-4 6-2 2/20/1965 yes 1964 Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI 100-89 8,643 15-4 7-2 2/23/1965 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 97-80 13,387 16-4 8-2 2/27/1965 1 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 79-80 16,128 16-5 8-3 3/2/1965 yes 1964 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern McGaw Memorial Hall Evanston, IL Rivalry 93-70 5,500 17-5 9-3 3/6/1965 yes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivlary 84-94 10,500 17-6 9-4 3/9/1965 Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 121-89 10,456 18-6 10-4 |- Central Time Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws Rebounds PointsSkip Thoren 2421995349533Tal Brody 2418395108463Don Freeman 2417884226440Bogie Redmon 2415555192365Bill McKeown 941173999Jim Dawson 2238114187Jim Vopicka 2334196187Bob Johansen 1956223456Larry Hinton 1836141736Preston Pearson 171641816Deon Flessner 13451413Bob Brown 1326810Jerry Mettile 93288 Awards and honors Bogie Redmon Converse Honorable Mention All-American Tal Brody Helms 1st Team All-American Converse 2nd Team All-American Sporting News 2nd Team All-American Duane "Skip" Thoren Helms 1st Team All-American Converse 2nd Team All-American Associated Press 2nd Team All-American United Press 3rd Team All-American Basketball News 3rd Team All-American National Association of Basketball Coaches 3rd Team All-American Team Most Valuable Player http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf List of MVPs 2013-02-21 2014-10-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20141030004049/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf dead Team players drafted into the NBA Player NBA club Round PickTal BrodyBaltimore Bullets24Skip ThorenBaltimore Bullets44Bogie RedmonBaltimore Bullets102Roger TaylorBaltimore Bullets1711965 NBA Draft Rankings 1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball