1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini 1950–51_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 4 5 22–5 13-1 Harry Combes Howie Braun Cliff Fulton 4th 14th 1st Don Sunderlage Don Sunderlage Huff Hall Big Ten conference champions NCAA men's Division I tournament Final Four 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 Division I men's 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.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC 1-58261-356-7 Roster 1950 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Theodore Beach 8 F 6 1 165 SR Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School n Don Sunderlage 11 F 6 1 180 SR Elgin, Illinois Elgin High School y C James Bredar 19 G 5 11 167 SO Salem, Illinois Salem High School y Jim Bredar Ed Makovsky 24 F 6 5 194 FR Cicero, Illinois Morton High School n Robert Peterson 25 C 6 8 235 SO Wayne, Illinois Elgin High School n Irving Bemoras 26 G 6 3.5 185 SO Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School y Mack Follmer 27 C 6 4 200 JR Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School n Max Baumgardner 29 F 6 3 175 SO Sterling, Illinois Sterling High School n Clive Follmer 33 F 6 4 195 SO Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School y Seymour Gantman 34 G 5 7 165 JR Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School n Ren Alde 35 G 6 2 180 JR Pana, Illinois Pana High School n Rod Fletcher 37 G 6 4 194 JR Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School y Rod Fletcher (basketball) Herb Gerecke 38 G 6 1 180 JR Pekin, Illinois Pekin High School n Max Hooper 41 F 6 5 200 FR Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School n Dick Christiansen 47 G 6 3.5 180 JR Winnetka, Illinois New Trier High School n James Schuldt 48 G 6 0 195 SO Dundee, Illinois Dundee Community High School n John Marks SR Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville High School n Richard Ems JR Fisher, Illinois Fisher High School n James Hoffman FR n George Shapland FR n Andy Toth FR n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (4th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (14th year) Cliff Fulton (University of Illinois) (1st year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1950-51 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1950-51 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407054401/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1950.html 2014-04-07 , FightingIllini.com yes yesSchedule |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/4/1950 yes 1950 Marquette Golden Eagles Marquette Huff Hall Champaign, IL 66–47 6,532 1-0 12/8/1950 yes 1950 Oregon State Beavers Oregon State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 74–51 6,400 2-0 12/9/1950 yes yes 1950 Toledo Rockets Toledo The Field House Toledo, OH 54–68 6,300 2-1 12/16/1950 yes yes 1950 DePaul Blue Demons DePaul Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 69–68 12,000 3-1 12/20/1950 yes Washington State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 71–48 2,575 4-1 12/22/1950 yes Pennsylvania Huff Hall Champaign, IL 75–65 2,411 5-1 12/28/1950 20 yes DePaul Huff Hall Champaign, IL 65–68 5,942 5-2 12/29/1950 20 yes 1950 Butler Bulldogs Butler Huff Hall Champaign, IL 88–52 2,921 6-2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/1/1951 20 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 71–69 OT 12,500 7-2 1-0 1/6/1951 1950 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Huff Hall Champaign, IL 70–62 6,905 8-2 2-0 1/8/1951 yes 1950 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 62–83 13,732 9-2 3-0 1/13/1951 14 Michigan Huff Hall Champaign, IL 68–47 6,905 10-2 4-0 1/15/1951 14 yes Indiana 6 The Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN Rivalry 53–64 10,283 10-3 4-1 1/20/1951 14 Iowa Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 69–53 6,905 11-3 5-1 2/5/1951 14 yes 1950 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN 85–76 10,000 12-3 6-1 2/10/1951 16 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 63–52 6,905 13-3 7-1 2/12/1951 16 1950 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 79–59 6,905 14-3 8-1 2/17/1951 11 Purdue Huff Hall Champaign, IL 70–65 6,905 15-3 9-1 2/19/1951 11 Indiana 6 Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 71–65 6,905 16-3 10-1 2/24/1951 10 yes Ohio State Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Columbus, OH 89–69 4,220 17-3 11-1 3/3/1951 6 yes 1950 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Patten Gymnasium Evanston, IL Rivalry 80–76 18,000 18-3 12-1 3/5/1951 5 yes 1950 Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI 49–43 6,234 19-3 13-1 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA tournament 3/14/1951 5 4 yes yes Kansas State Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS NCAA Tournament Warm-Up Game 72–91 14,000 19-4 3/20/1951 5 yes yes 1950 Columbia Lions Columbia 3 Madison Square Garden New York, NY NCAA Tournament first round 79–71 17,107 20-4 3/22/1951 5 yes yes 1950 NC State Wolfpack NC State 8 Madison Square Garden New York, NY NCAA Tournament Second Round 84–70 17,000 21-4 3/24/1951 5 yes yes Kentucky 1 Madison Square Garden New York, NY NCAA Tournament East Regional Final 74–76 17,000 21-5 3/27/1951 5 yes yes 1950 Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma A&M 14 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN NCAA Tournament 3rd Place Game 57–53 15,438 22-5 |- Central Time Player stats PlayerGames PlayedField GoalsFree ThrowsPointsDon Sunderlage 27150171471Ted Beach2712447295Rod Fletcher 2711560290Clive Follmer 278864240Bob Peterson278567237Irv Bemoras 278349215Max Baumgardner23291169Jim Bredar2015434Mack Follmer 129321Herb Gerecke 115515Dick Christiansen 76315John Marks 8408Jim Schuldt 16146Seymour Gantman 5033Richard Ems 1102 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1950.html Season Stats 2014-03-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407054401/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1950.html 2014-04-07 dead Awards and honors Don Sunderlage Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award (1951) Helms 2nd team All-American (1951) Sporting News 2nd team All-American (1951) United Press International 3rd team All-American (1951) Converse 3rd team All-American (1951) Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American (1951) Team Most Valuable Playerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf List of MVPs 2013-01-15 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 Ted Beach Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1951) Rod Fletcher Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1951) Team players drafted into the NBA PlayerNBA ClubRoundPick Don SunderlagePhiladelphia Warriors1 9 Ted BeachIndianapolis Olympians7 73 1951 NBA draft Rankings 1950–51 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Illinois Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons Category:1950 in sports in Illinois Category:1951 in sports in Illinois