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1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 5
Record22–5 (13-1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPDon Sunderlage
CaptainDon Sunderlage
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1950–51 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 Illinois 13 1   .929 22 5   .815
No. 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

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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.[1]

Roster

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1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 8 Theodore Beach 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Champaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
F 11 Don Sunderlage (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Elgin High School Elgin, Illinois
G 19 James Bredar 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 167 lb (76 kg) So Salem High School Salem, Illinois
F 24 Ed Makovsky 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 194 lb (88 kg) Fr Morton High School Cicero, Illinois
C 25 Robert Peterson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Elgin High School Wayne, Illinois
G 26 Irving Bemoras 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Marshall High School Chicago, Illinois
C 27 Mack Follmer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Forrest High School Forrest, Illinois
F 29 Max Baumgardner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Sterling High School Sterling, Illinois
F 33 Clive Follmer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Forrest High School Forrest, Illinois
G 34 Seymour Gantman 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Marshall High School Chicago, Illinois
G 35 Ren Alde 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Pana High School Pana, Illinois
G 37 Rod Fletcher 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 194 lb (88 kg) Jr Champaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
G 38 Herb Gerecke 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Pekin High School Pekin, Illinois
F 41 Max Hooper 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Mt. Vernon High School Mt. Vernon, Illinois
G 47 Dick Christiansen 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr New Trier High School Winnetka, Illinois
G 48 James Schuldt 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Dundee Community High School Dundee, Illinois
John Marks
Sr Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
Richard Ems
Jr Fisher High School Fisher, Illinois
James Hoffman
Fr
George Shapland
Fr
Andy Toth
Fr
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

Schedule

[edit]

Source[2]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[3]
Non-Conference regular season
12/4/1950*
no, no
Marquette W 66–47  1-0
Huff Hall (6,532)
Champaign, IL
12/8/1950*
no, no
Oregon State W 74–51  2-0
Huff Hall (6,400)
Champaign, IL
12/9/1950*
no, no
at Toledo L 54–68  2-1
The Field House (6,300)
Toledo, OH
12/16/1950*
no, no
at DePaul W 69–68  3-1
Chicago Stadium (12,000)
Chicago, IL
12/20/1950*
no, no
Washington State W 71–48  4-1
Huff Hall (2,575)
Champaign, IL
12/22/1950*
no, no
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 at Wisconsin W 71–69 OT 7-2
(1-0)
Wisconsin Field House (12,500)
Madison, WI
1/6/1951
no, no
Minnesota W 70–62  8-2
(2-0)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/8/1951
no, no
at 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 at No. 6 Indiana
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 at 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 No. 6 Indiana
Rivalry
W 71–65  16-3
(10-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/24/1951
no, no
No. 10 at Ohio State W 89–69  17-3
(11-1)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (4,220)
Columbus, OH
3/3/1951
no, no
No. 6 at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 80–76  18-3
(12-1)
Patten Gymnasium (18,000)
Evanston, IL
3/5/1951
no, no
No. 5 at 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 at No. 4 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. No. 3 Columbia
NCAA Tournament first round
W 79–71  20-4
Madison Square Garden (17,107)
New York, NY
3/22/1951*
no, no
No. 5 vs. No. 8 NC State
NCAA Tournament Second Round
W 84–70  21-4
Madison Square Garden (17,000)
New York, NY
3/24/1951*
no, no
No. 5 vs. No. 1 Kentucky
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 vs. No. 14 Oklahoma A&M
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.

Player stats

[edit]
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 12 9 3 21
Herb Gerecke 11 5 5 15
Dick Christiansen 7 6 3 15
John Marks 8 4 0 8
Jim Schuldt 16 1 4 6
Seymour Gantman 5 0 3 3
Richard Ems 1 1 0 2

[4]

Awards and honors

[edit]

Team players drafted into the NBA

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

[6]

Rankings

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1950-51 Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  3. ^ Schedule
  4. ^ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  5. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  6. ^ 1951 NBA draft Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine