1978–79 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1978–79 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1978–79 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Kentucky Invitational Tournament, Champion
Glacier Bowl Classic, Champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record19–11 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPMark Smith
CaptainLarry Lubin
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1978–79 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Michigan State 13 5   .722 26 6   .813
No. 15 Purdue 13 5   .722 27 8   .771
No. 20 Iowa 13 5   .722 20 8   .714
Ohio State 12 6   .667 19 12   .613
Indiana 10 8   .556 22 12   .647
Michigan 8 10   .444 15 12   .556
Illinois 7 11   .389 19 11   .633
Wisconsin 6 12   .333 12 15   .444
Minnesota 6 12   .333 11 16   .407
Northwestern 2 16   .111 6 21   .222
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

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In 1978-79 season, Illinois finished seventh in the Big Ten, but went 19-11 overall, including ascension to No. 2 in the national polls after starting the year 15-0. During this season, Illinois upset top-ranked Michigan State and Magic Johnson, 57-55, in one of the school’s most memorable games. It was during this season that Illinois also led the nation in field-goal percentage defense (.404).

Roster

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1978–79 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 Reno Gray   6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Jr Hales Franciscan High School Chicago, Illinois
G 12 Kevin Westervelt 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
C 13 James Griffin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Dunbar High School Grandview, Texas
G 15 Cletis Hubbard 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Dunbar High School Ft. Worth, Texas
G 20 Matt Meyer 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Foreman High School Mantino, Illinois
G 21 Steve Lanter 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Mascoutah Community High School Belleville, Illinois
G 22 Perry Range 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr South Beloit High School South Beloit, Illinois
G 23 Larry Lubin (C) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr New Trier High School Glencoe, Illinois
G 30 Rob Judson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Zion-Benton High School Zion, Illinois
F 31 Neil Bresnahan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Fenwick High School Oak Park, Illinois
F 32 Levi Cobb 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Morgan Park High School Chicago, Illinois
F 33 Eddie Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Westinghouse High School Chicago, Illinois
F 42 Mark Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
F 43 Bryan Leonard 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Belleville High School-East Belleville, Illinois
C 44 Derek Holcomb 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

Schedule

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Source[1]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/24/1978*
no, no
Texas-Arlington W 109-74  1-0
Assembly Hall (9,097)
Champaign, IL
11/28/1978*
no, no
Denver W 81-57  2-0
Assembly Hall (10,092)
Champaign, IL
12/2/1978*
no, no
at Tulane W 65-60  3-0
Devlin Fieldhouse (3,542)
New Orleans, LA
12/5/1978*
no, no
at Missouri
Show-Me Classic
W 69-57  4-0
Hearnes Center (6,002)
Columbia, MO
12/8/1978*
no, no
South Carolina W 64-57  5-0
Assembly Hall (12,156)
Champaign, IL
12/9/1978*
no, no
Centenary W 86-60  6-0
Assembly Hall (10,082)
Champaign, IL
12/16/1978*
no, no
No. 18 at Kent State W 82-44  7-0
Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (1,020)
Kent, OH
12/22/1978*
no, no
No. 15 vs. No. 8 Syracuse
Kentucky Invitational Tournament
W 64-61  8-0
Rupp Arena (21,000)
Lexington, KY
12/23/1978*
no, no
No. 15 vs. No. 7 Texas A&M
Kentucky Invitational Tournament
W 71-57  9-0
Rupp Arena (23,272)
Lexington, KY
12/28/1978*
no, no
No. 6 vs. Western Michigan
Glacier Bowl Classic
W 84-79  10-0
Buckner Fieldhouse (-)
Anchorage, AK
12/29/1978*
no, no
No. 6 vs. Ozarks
Glacier Bowl Classic
W 88-82  11-0
Buckner Fieldhouse (-)
Anchorage, AK
12/30/1978*
no, no
No. 6 at Alaska-Anchorage
Glacier Bowl Classic
W 92-80  12-0
Buckner Fieldhouse (-)
Anchorage, AK
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1979
no, no
No. 4 at Indiana
Rivalry
W 65-61  13-0
(1-0)
Assembly Hall (16,104)
Bloomington, IN
1/6/1979
no, no
No. 4 at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 75-56  14-0
(2-0)
McGaw Memorial Hall (7,122)
Evanston, IL
1/11/1979
no, no
No. 4 No. 1 Michigan State W 57-55  15-0
(3-0)
Assembly Hall (16,209)
Champaign, IL
1/13/1979
no, no
No. 4 Ohio State L 66-69 OT 15-1
(3-1)
Assembly Hall (12,088)
Champaign, IL
1/18/1979
no, no
No. 4 at Wisconsin W 81-74  16-1
(4-1)
Wisconsin Field House (12,204)
Madison, WI
1/20/1979
no, no
No. 4 Purdue L 57-69  16-2
(4-2)
Assembly Hall (16,458)
Champaign, IL
1/25/1979
no, no
No. 8 at Iowa
Rivalry
L 52-58  16-3
(4-3)
Iowa Field House (13,355)
Iowa City, IA
1/27/1979
no, no
No. 8 Michigan L 54-56  16-4
(4-4)
Assembly Hall (16,473)
Champaign, IL
2/1/1979
no, no
No. 14 Minnesota W 67-57  17-4
(5-4)
Assembly Hall (14,383)
Champaign, IL
2/3/1979
no, no
No. 14 at Michigan L 65-74  17-5
(5-5)
Crisler Center (13,609)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/8/1979
no, no
No. 20 at Purdue L 65-71  17-6
(5-6)
Mackey Arena (14,123)
West Lafayette, IN
2/10/1979
no, no
No. 20 at Minnesota W 59-57  18-6
(6-6)
Williams Arena (16,615)
Minneapolis, MN
2/15/1979
no, no
Wisconsin W 81-64  19-6
(7-6)
Assembly Hall (12,880)
Champaign, IL
2/17/1979
no, no
No. 14 Iowa
Rivalry
L 53-67  19-7
(7-7)
Assembly Hall (9,441)
Champaign, IL
2/22/1979
no, no
at No. 14 Ohio State L 55-73  19-8
(7-8)
St. John Arena (13,489)
Columbus, OH
2/24/1979
no, no
at No. 7 Michigan State L 62-76  19-9
(7-9)
Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004)
East Lansing, MI
3/1/1979
no, no
Northwestern
Rivalry
L 64-71  19-10
(7-10)
Assembly Hall (12,390)
Champaign, IL
3/3/1979
no, no
Indiana
Rivalry
L 60-72  19-11
(7-11)
Assembly Hall (16,503)
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
Mark Smith[2] 30 897 160 84 173 121 23 53 404
Eddie Johnson[3] 30 786 168 26 170 52 4 18 362
Rob Judson[4] 30 918 123 35 68 61 3 33 281
Neil Bresnahan[5] 30 840 105 40 236 75 7 32 250
James Griffin[6] 30 426 105 19 98 7 29 12 229
Derek Holcomb[7] 29 818 90 34 190 49 86 17 214
Levi Cobb[8] 30 504 68 24 122 29 4 19 160
Steve Lanter 27 473 35 16 38 52 1 15 72
Perry Range[9] 24 180 21 14 25 12 0 8 56
Bryan Leonard 16 45 6 11 11 1 4 2 23
Larry Lubin 22 88 6 0 4 9 1 6 12
Kevin Westervelt 8 15 2 5 3 0 0 0 9
Cletis Hubbard 8 22 2 2 2 4 0 1 6
Matt Meyer 6 9 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Dave Schulter 2 5 0 0 1 1 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

[11]

Rankings

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References

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  1. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1978-79 Archived 2013-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  2. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  3. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  4. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  5. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  6. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  7. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  8. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  9. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  10. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  11. ^ 1979 NBA Draft Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine