1981–82 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1981–82 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record18–11 (10–8 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPJames Griffin
MVPPerry Range
Captains
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1981–82 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 Minnesota 14 4   .778 23 6   .793
No. 16 Iowa 12 6   .667 21 8   .724
Ohio State 12 6   .667 21 10   .677
Indiana 12 6   .667 19 10   .655
Purdue 11 7   .611 18 14   .563
Illinois 10 8   .556 18 11   .621
Michigan State 6 12   .333 11 17   .393
Michigan 6 12   .333 7 20   .259
Northwestern 4 14   .222 8 19   .296
Wisconsin* 1 17   .056 4 23   .148
Rankings from AP Poll
*Wisconsin forfeited all games after Jan 25, 1982 due to NCAA sanctions.
Disputed record (3–15, 6–23)

The 1981–82 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

[edit]

The 1982 season brought Illinois another post-season appearance, in the NIT, and an 18-11 record. Derek Harper led the Big Ten in assists and steals.

Roster

[edit]
1981–82 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 Craig Tucker (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Flint Northern High School Flint, Michigan
F 11 Dan Klier 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Naperville Central High School Naperville, Illinois
G 12 Derek Harper 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So North Shore High School West Palm Beach, Florida
C 13 James Griffin (C) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Dunbar High School Grandview, Texas
G 14 Mike O'Brien 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
G 20 Kevin Bontemps 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Morton High School Morton, Illinois
G 21 Quinn Richardson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Eisenhower High School Robbins, Illinois
G 22 Perry Range (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr South Beloit High School South Beloit, Illinois
F 23 George Montgomery 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Corliss High School Chicago, Illinois
F 32 Jay Daniels 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr John I. Leonard High School West Palm Beach, Florida
F 34 Dee Maras 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Antioch Community High School Antioch, Illinois
F 43 Bryan Leonard 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr Belleville High School-East Belleville, Illinois
F 44 Anthony Welch 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Creston High School Grand Rapids, Michigan
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

Schedule

[edit]

Source[1]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/28/1981*
no, no
at Loyola (Chicago) W 87-83 ot 1-0
Chicago Stadium (13,827)
Chicago, IL
12/5/1981*
no, no
Kansas State W 55-49  2-0
Assembly Hall (15,106)
Champaign, IL
12/8/1981*
no, no
vs. No. 13 Missouri
Braggin' Rights
L 68-78 ot 2-1
St. Louis Arena (15,187)
St. Louis, MO
12/11/1981*
no, no
Army
Illini Classic
W 72-37  3-1
Assembly Hall (14,257)
Champaign, IL
12/12/1981*
no, no
Texas A&M
Illini Classic
W 76-63  4-1
Assembly Hall (15,126)
Champaign, IL
12/19/1981*
no, no
St. Louis W 53-43  5-1
Assembly Hall (14,094)
Champaign, IL
12/22/1981*
no, no
North Dakota State W 90-61  6-1
Assembly Hall (14,755)
Champaign, IL
12/28/1981*
no, no
vs. Bowling Green
Blade-Glass City Classic
W 56-51  7-1
Centennial Hall (9,089)
Toledo, OH
12/29/1981*
no, no
at Toledo
Blade-Glass City Classic
L 51-71  7-2
Centennial Hall (9,108)
Toledo, OH
Big Ten regular season
1/7/1982
no, no
at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 60-50  8-2
(1-0)
McGaw Memorial Hall (7,183)
Evanston, IL
1/9/1982
no, no
at No. 7 Iowa
Rivalry
L 50-56  8-3
(1-1)
Iowa Field House (13,356)
Iowa City, IA
1/14/1982
no, no
Ohio State L 50-51 ot 8-4
(1-2)
Assembly Hall (15,579)
Champaign, IL
1/16/1982
no, no
Michigan State W 55-51  9-4
(2-2)
Assembly Hall (15,290)
Champaign, IL
1/21/1982
no, no
Indiana
Rivalry
L 53-54  9-5
(2-3)
Assembly Hall (16,768)
Champaign, IL
1/23/1982
no, no
at No. 5 Minnesota W 64-57  10-5
(3-3)
Williams Arena (17,218)
Minneapolis, MN
1/28/1982
no, no
at Purdue W 63-48  11-5
(4-3)
Mackey Arena (13,946)
West Lafayette, IN
1/30/1982
no, no
Michigan W 79-61  12-5
(5-3)
Assembly Hall (16,186)
Champaign, IL
2/4/1982
no, no
Wisconsin W 88-54  13-5
(6-3)
Assembly Hall (15,763)
Champaign, IL
2/6/1982
no, no
at Michigan L 53-58  13-6
(6-4)
Crisler Arena (9,208)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/11/1982
no, no
at Indiana
Rivalry
L 60-73  13-7
(6-5)
Assembly Hall (16,502)
Bloomington, IN
2/13/1982
no, no
at Wisconsin W 68-60  14-7
(7-5)
Wisconsin Field House (6,387)
Madison, WI
2/18/1982
no, no
Purdue L 44-52  14-8
(7-6)
Assembly Hall (15,817)
Champaign, IL
2/20/1982
no, no
No. 8 Minnesota W 77-65  15-8
(8-6)
Assembly Hall (16,578)
Champaign, IL
2/25/1982
no, no
at Michigan State L 47-56  15-9
(8-7)
Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004)
East Lansing, MI
2/27/1982
no, no
at Ohio State L 53-63  15-10
(8-8)
St. John Arena (13,591)
Columbus, OH
3/4/1982
no, no
No. 11 Iowa
Rivalry
W 73-67 ot 16-10
(9-8)
Assembly Hall (16,413)
Champaign, IL
3/6/1982*
no, no
Northwestern
Rivalry
W 85-65  17-10
(10-8)
Assembly Hall (16,396)
Champaign, IL
National Invitation Tournament
3/10/1982
no, no
Long Island
NIT First Round
W 126-78  18-10
Assembly Hall (10,505)
Champaign, IL
3/15/1982*
no, no
Dayton
NIT Second Round
L 58-61  18-11
Assembly Hall (16,275)
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

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Player Games Played Minutes Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points
Craig Tucker[2] 29 1001 170 110 69 84 1 32 450
James Griffin[3] 29 963 171 52 204 27 56 19 394
Perry Range[4] 29 1059 146 83 128 71 7 37 375
Derek Harper[5] 29 1059 105 34 133 145 16 67 244
Bryan Leonard 29 629 47 23 110 49 14 12 117
George Montgomery 28 462 41 20 104 13 10 8 102
Jay Daniels 27 294 38 17 41 12 4 7 93
Anthony Welch 26 260 30 17 39 12 5 4 77
Kevin Bontemps 21 76 9 4 6 14 0 4 22
Quinn Richardson 18 50 6 10 4 7 0 3 22
Dee Maras 12 19 0 8 5 1 0 0 8
Dan Klier 10 6 3 0 11 0 0 0 6
Mike O'Brien 5 6 2 0 2 0 0 0 4
Scott Palmer 5 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors

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Team players drafted into the NBA

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Player NBA Club Round Pick
Craig Tucker New York Knickerbockers 3 57
James Griffin New Jersey Nets 4 80
Perry Range Kansas City Kings 7 143
Brian Leonard Milwaukee Bucks 8 181

[7]

Rankings

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1981-82 Archived 2014-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  2. ^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  3. ^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  4. ^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  5. ^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  6. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  7. ^ 1982 NBA Draft Archived 2012-09-02 at the Wayback Machine