1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
Harry Combes entered his 19th season as the head coach of the Fighting Illini . The program was heading in a positive direction with six up-and-coming sophomores joining a varsity team that already included five juniors and five seniors. This balance was demonstrated within the starting lineup which included a rotation of two sophomores, two juniors and two seniors. The starters included, Don Freeman and Rich Jones as forwards, Preston Pearson and Bob Brown as guards, and Ron Dunlap at center.
It was during this season that Freeman would mark his place in Illini history by setting a record for most points in a season (668), while averaging 27.8 points per game. When he finished at Illinois, he had totaled 1449 points and averaged 20.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game over his three varsity seasons. This offensive output led to Freeman being named a 1st-team All-American by the Helms Foundation , a 2nd-team All-American by Converse and Basketball News, and honorable mention with UPI ,
Roster
1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
F
10
John Prescott
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
So
Lake Forest High School
Lake Forest, Illinois
G
11
Benny Louis
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
So
Pinckneyville Community High School
Pinckneyville, Illinois
G
12
Greg Wright
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
So
Homewood-Flossmoor High School
Glenwood, Illinois
G/F
14
Jerry Mettille
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Jr
Morris Community High School
Morris, Illinois
G
15
Donnie Freeman (C)
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Sr
Madison High School
Madison, Illinois
F
20
Rich Crusius
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
So
Bloomington High School
Bloomington, Illinois
F
21
Bob Johansen
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Jr
Geneva High School
Geneva, Illinois
G
24
Jim Dawson
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Jr
York High School
Elmhurst, Illinois
G
25
Preston Pearson
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Jr
Freeport High School
Freeport, Illinois
F
30
Deon Flessner
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Jr
Fithian High School
Fithian, Illinois
G
22
Jim Vopicka
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Jr
Morton West High School
Brookfield, Illinois
F/C
33
Rich Jones
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
So
Lester High School
Memphis, Tennessee
C
35
Ron Dunlap
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
So
Farragut Academy
Chicago, Illinois
G/F
40
Bob Brown
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Sr
P. S. Dupont High School
Wilmington, DE
F
43
Larry Hinton
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Sr
Shelbyville High School
Shelbyville, Illinois
F
44
Mike Graville
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Sr
Madison High School
Madison, Illinois
F
54
Dan Lee
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Sr
Attica High School
Attica, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule
Source[ 1]
Date time, TV
Opponent
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1965 *no, no
Butler
W 88-74
1-0
Assembly Hall (9,167)Champaign, IL
12/3/1965 *no, no
at BYU
L 98-109
1-1
Marriott Center (11,488)Provo, Utah
12/4/1965 *no, no
at No. 1 UCLA
L 79-97
1-2
Pauley Pavilion (12,365)Los Angeles, CA
12/8/1965 *no, no
Kentucky
L 68-86
1-3
Assembly Hall (7,966)Champaign, IL
12/11/1965 *no, no
West Virginia
W 96-86
2-3
Assembly Hall (6,251)Champaign, IL
12/14/1965 no, no
at Wisconsin
W 90-70
3-3 (1-0)
Wisconsin Field House (8,206)Madison, WI
12/18/1965 *no, no
vs. Princeton
L 81-84
3-4
Chicago Stadium (6,038)Chicago, IL
12/27/1965 *no, no
vs. Georgetown ECAC Holiday Festival
W 96-94
4-4
Madison Square Garden (8,757)New York, NY
12/28/1965 *no, no
vs. No. 10 Providence ECAC Holiday Festival
L 79-81
4-5
Madison Square Garden (12,239)New York, NY
12/30/1965 *no, no
vs. Army ECAC Holiday Festival
L 69-78
4-6
Madison Square Garden (18,499)New York, NY
Big Ten regular season
1/8/1966 no, no
at Indiana Rivalry
W 98-84
5-6 (2-0)
New Fieldhouse (7,502)Bloomington, IN
1/11/1966 no, no
Wisconsin
W 80-64
6-6 (3-0)
Assembly Hall (6,127)Champaign, IL
1/15/1966 no, no
at Purdue
L 87-93
6-7 (3-1)
Mackey Arena (8,936)West Lafayette, IN
1/28/1966 *no, no
vs. Notre Dame
W 120-92
7-7
Chicago Stadium (18,183)Chicago, IL
2/1/1966 no, no
at No. 4 Michigan
W 99-93
8-7 (4-1)
Crisler Arena (9,544)Ann Arbor, MI
2/5/1966 no, no
Ohio State
W 78-77
9-7 (5-1)
Assembly Hall (9,838)Champaign, IL
2/7/1966 no, no
Northwestern Rivalry
L 77-80
9-8 (5-2)
Assembly Hall (7,695)Champaign, IL
2/12/1966 no, no
Indiana Rivalry
L 77-81
9-9 (5-3)
Assembly Hall (8,175)Champaign, IL
2/19/1966 no, no
Minnesota
W 100-89
10-9 (6-3)
Assembly Hall (8,643)Champaign, IL
2/22/1966 no, no
at Michigan State
L 66-68
10-10 (6-4)
Jenison Fieldhouse (10,484)East Lansing, MI
2/26/1966 no, no
at Minnesota
L 92-94
10-11 (6-5)
Williams Arena (7,340)Minneapolis, MN
2/28/1966 no, no
Purdue
W 98-81
11-11 (7-5)
Assembly Hall (6,207)Champaign, IL
3/5/1966 no, no
Iowa Rivalry
W 106-90
12-11 (8-5)
Assembly Hall (9,592)Champaign, IL
3/7/1966 no, no
at Northwestern Rivalry
L 76-84
12-12 (8-6)
McGaw Memorial Hall (4,800)Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Player stats
Player
Games Played
Field Goals
Free Throws
Rebounds
Points
Don Freeman[ 2]
24
258
152
285
668
Rich Jones[ 3]
24
206
96
265
508
Jim Dawson[ 4]
24
163
42
100
368
Deon Flessner[ 5]
24
48
38
127
134
Bob Brown[ 6]
15
44
24
42
112
Preston Pearson[ 7]
22
38
30
68
106
Ron Dunlap[ 8]
23
28
32
109
88
Bob Johansen[ 9]
20
27
11
37
65
Larry Hinton[ 10]
20
12
7
13
31
Benny Louis[ 11]
15
4
4
12
12
Jerry Mettile[ 12]
6
2
2
2
6
Mike Graville
1
0
0
0
0
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
[ 14]
Rankings
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics