1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini The 1962-63 Fighting Illini men's basketball team.png 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 5 8 20–6 11–3 Harry Combes Howie Braun Jim Wright 16th 26th 5th Bob Starnes Dave Downey Huff Hall & Assembly Hall Big Ten Conference champions NCAA Men's Division I Tournament Elite Eight The 1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illiniois. Regular season The 1962–63 season saw the Fighting Illini finish with 20–6 overall, 11–3 in the conference. Senior Dave Downey led the team in scoring, as he had the previous two seasons, and he moved into first on the all-time scoring list. Downey also set the school record for points in a game, which still stands, with 53 in a road loss to Indiana on February 16, 1963. Illinois was a game back of first place in the league standings with only two games remaining when the Assembly Hall opened its doors on March 4, 1963. Illinois’ first game at the Hall was an exciting 79–73 victory over Northwestern before 16,137 fans to stay within a game of first-place Ohio State. After Illinois edged Iowa, 73–69, in the last game of the season, the Fighting Illini would need an overtime loss two hours later by the Buckeyes at Indiana to share the title. During the season the Illini would win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Holiday Festival and make the Elite Eight of the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, losing to eventual champion Loyola (Chicago). Roster 1962 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Larry Bauer 10 F 6 7 207 SO Springfield, Illinois Springfield High School n Bob Meadows 11 G 5 7 157 SO Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville High School n Tal Brody 12 G 6 2 165 SO Trenton, New Jersey Central High School y John Love 14 F 6 3 199 JR Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa Township High School n Jay Lovelace 22 G 6 2 164 SR Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale Community High School n Bill Burwell 25 C 6 8 227 SR Brooklyn, New York Boys High School n Jeff Ferguson 30 F 6 3 195 JR Benton, Illinois Benton Consolidated High School n Tony Latham 31 G 5 11 163 SO Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan High School n Bill Edwards 32 G 6 3 208 JR Windsor, Illinois Windsor High School n Bogie Redmon 33 F 6 5 218 SO Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville High School n Bill McKeown 34 G 6 2 185 SO Clinton, Illinois Clinton High School n Skip Thoren 35 C 6 8 201 SO Rockford, Illinois Rockford East High School y Dave Downey 40 F 6 4 204 SR Canton, Illinois Canton High School y Bob Starnes 44 F 6 5 187 SR Chicago, Illinois Gage Park High School n C Bill Small 53 G 6 2 185 SR Aurora, Illinois West Aurora High School n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (16th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (26th year) Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (5th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1962-63 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1962–63, FightingIllini.com yes yesSchedule |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season |- align="center" bgcolor="" 11/30/1962 8 yes 1962 Butler Bulldogs Butler Huff Hall Champaign, IL 66–49 6,912 1–0 12/6/1962 yes 1962 Washington University Bears Washington (St. Louis) Huff Hall Champaign, IL 99–55 6,912 2–0 12/16/1962 10 yes yes Iowa State Iowa State Armory Ames, IA 76–73 7,000 3–0 12/17/1962 10 yes 1962 San Jose State Spartans San Jose State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 90–64 6,912 4–0 12/22/1962 8 yes Oklahoma Huff Hall Champaign, IL 93–90 6,000 5–0 12/26/1962 4 yes yes 1962 Penn Quakers Penn Madison Square Garden New York, NY ECAC Holiday Festival 98–66 14,238 6–0 12/28/1962 4 yes yes 1962 NYU Violets NYU Madison Square Garden New York, NY ECAC Holiday Festival 91–84 15,036 7–0 12/29/1962 4 yes yes 1962 West Virginia Mountaineers West Virginia Madison Square Garden New York, NY ECAC Holiday Festival 92–74 12,125 8–0 12/31/1962 3 yes yes Notre Dame Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 88–90 10,346 8–1 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/5/1963 3 yes 1962 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 85–76 12,600 9–1 1–0 1/7/1963 5 1962 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State 5 Huff Hall Champaign, IL 90–78 6,912 10–1 2–0 1/12/1963 5 1962 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Huff Hall Champaign, IL 106–82 6,756 11–1 3–0 1/14/1963 3 yes 1962 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern McGaw Memorial Hall Evanston, IL Rivalry 78–76 7,200 12–1 4–0 1/26/1963 4 yes yes Cincinnati 1 Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 53–62 23,000 12–2 2/4/1963 4 Indiana Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 104–101 6,912 13–2 5–0 2/9/1963 4 1962 Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 91–86 6,797 14–2 6–0 2/11/1963 4 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 77–84 12,088 14–3 6–1 2/16/1963 6 yes Indiana Gladstein Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN Rivalry 100–103 10,300 14–4 6–2 2/19/1963 6 yes Purdue Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN 87–79 9,637 15–4 7–2 2/23/1963 6 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 89–77 6,912 16–4 8–2 2/25/1963 6 yes 1962 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 81–70 11,226 17–4 9–2 3/2/1963 6 yes Michigan Yost Ice Arena Ann Arbor, MI 81–84 9,450 17–5 9–3 3/4/1963 8 Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 79–73 16,137 18–5 10–3 3/9/1963 8 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 73–69 16,007 19–5 11–3 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA Tournament 3/15/1963 8 yes yes Bowling Green Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional Semi-Finalhttp://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1963 RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More 90–67 12,143 20–5 3/16/1963 8 yes yes Loyola (Chicago) Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional Final 64–79 9,459 20–6 |- Central Time Rankings 1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws Rebounds PointsDave Downey 26201111254513Bill Small2643981120439Bill Burwell 2615886230402Bob Starnes2611584180314Tal Brody26956390253Skip Thoren265337150143Bill Edwards 2623102856Bogie Redmon 2322117255Bill McKeown 14441212John Love83278Larry Bauer 52266Jay Lovelace40000 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1962.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310201433/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1962.html 2014-03-10 dead Awards and honors Dave Downey Helms 1st team All-American Converse 2nd team All-American Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American 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 Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Bill Small Converse Honorable Mention All-American Skip Thoren Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Team players drafted into the NBA Player NBA club Round PickBill BurwellSt. Louis Hawks3 24 Dave DowneySan Francisco Warriors430Bill SmallDetroit Pistons540http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1963&lg=N 1963 NBA Draft on Databasebasketball.com 2012-06-16 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20120805092951/http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1963&lg=N 2012-08-05 References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball Illinois