1999–2000 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1999–2000 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1999–2000 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
APNo. 21
Record22–10 (11–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPCory Bradford
CaptainVictor Chukwudebe
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1999–2000 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Michigan State 13 3   .813 32 7   .821
No. 25 Purdue 12 4   .750 24 10   .706
No. 21 Illinois 11 5   .688 22 10   .688
No. 22 Indiana 10 6   .625 20 9   .690
Wisconsin 8 8   .500 22 14   .611
Iowa 6 10   .375 14 16   .467
Michigan 6 10   .375 15 14   .517
Penn State 5 11   .313 19 16   .543
Minnesota 4 12   .250 12 16   .429
Northwestern 0 16   .000 5 25   .167
No. 8 Ohio State* 11 3   .786 5 1   .833
2000 Big Ten tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll
*Ohio State: 14 reg. season games; 2 NCAA Tourn. games vacated due to sanctions against the program
Disputed record: Ohio State (23–7) (13–3)[1]

Regular season

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In 2000, for the third time in four seasons, Illinois advanced to the NCAA tournament, this time as a #4 seed. After defeating Penn in the opening round, the Illini season ended with a defeat to eventual national runner-up Florida. The Fighting Illini spent much of the season ranked in the Top 25, climbing as high as No. 15 in late December. An early three-game losing streak in Big Ten play put the Illini in a hole to start league play at 1-3. But, Illinois went on to win 10 of the last 12 league games before finishing second in the Big Ten tournament. During the February 19th game vs. Northwestern, the Illini would set an NCAA record fewest points allowed in the first half of a game by giving up only 6 points.[2] Cory Bradford earned second-team All-Big Ten honors after leading Illinois in scoring and the Big Ten in three-point field goals. Forward Brian Cook was named Co-Freshman of the Year in the conference and earned All-Tournament honors with strong play in the Big Ten tournament.

Roster

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1999–2000 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 00 Victor Chukwudebe (C) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Lanphier High School Springfield, Illinois
G 3 Gareth Breunlin   6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Lyons Township High School La Grange, Illinois
G 5 Nate Mast 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Champaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
G 12 Joe Cross 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Carbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois
G 13 Cory Bradford 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Raleigh Egypt High School Memphis, Tennessee
F/C 21 Robert Archibald 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Lafayette High School Ballwin, Missouri
F 22 Lucas Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Maine West High School Des Plaines, Illinois
G 24 Sean Harrington 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Elgin High School Bartlett, Illinois
G 25 Jerrance Howard   6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Peoria High School Peoria, Illinois
G 30 Frank Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Manual High School Peoria, Illinois
F 32 Cleotis Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Russell County High School Pittsview, Alabama
F 33 Damir Krupalija 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Rockford Boylan High School Rockford, Illinois
F 34 Brian Cook 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Lincoln Community High School Lincoln, Illinois
F 40 Sergio McClain 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Manual High School Peoria, Illinois
F 42 Clayton Thomas (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Larkin High School Elgin, Illinois
F 52 Marcus Griffin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Manual High School/Lincoln College 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[3]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/19/1999*
no, ESPN+
No. 17 Western Illinois W 76–53  1–0
Assembly Hall (14,421)
Champaign, IL
11/22/1999*
no, MVCN
No. 15 at Bradley W 72–62  2–0
Carver Arena (11,430)
Peoria, IL
11/30/1999*
no, ESPN
No. 16 vs. No. 17 Duke
Big Ten-ACC Challenge
L 69–72  2–1
United Center (20,143)
Chicago, IL
12/4/1999*
no, MASN
No. 16 vs. Maryland
BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament
L 67–69  2–2
Verizon Center (13,536)
Washington, D.C.
12/5/1999*
no, no
No. 16 vs. Seton Hall
BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament
W 72–61  3–2
Verizon Center (13,703)
Washington, D.C.
12/8/1999*
no, no
Texas-Pan American W 98–61  4–2
Assembly Hall (11,705)
Champaign, IL
12/11/1999*
no, ESPN2
No. 22 Kansas State W 81–48  5–2
Assembly Hall (14,022)
Champaign, IL
12/18/1999*
no, ESPN
No. 20 vs. No. 8 Kansas W 84–70  6–2
United Center (16,714)
Chicago, IL
12/21/1999*
no, ESPN+
No. 15 vs. Missouri
Braggin' Rights
L 72–78  6–3
Scottrade Center (22,484)
St. Louis, MO
12/28/1999*
no, no
No. 20 Bethune-Cookman W 97–47  7–3
Assembly Hall (12,070)
Champaign, IL
12/30/1999*
no, no
No. 20 Loyola (Chicago) W 107–71  8–3
Assembly Hall (12,462)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/6/2000
no, ESPN
No. 19 No. 13 Ohio State W 80–77  9–3
(1–0)
Assembly Hall (13,756)
Champaign, IL
1/8/2000
no, Raycom
No. 19 at Wisconsin L 59–63  9–4
(1–1)
Kohl Center (17,142)
Madison, WI
1/12/2000
no, ESPN2
No. 22 Purdue L 66–69  9–5
(1–2)
Assembly Hall (15,473)
Champaign, IL
1/16/2000
no, CBS
No. 22 at Michigan L 91–95 ot 9–6
(1–3)
Crisler Arena (11,367)
Ann Arbor, MI
1/22/2000
no, ESPN+
Penn State W 87–76  10–6
(2–3)
Assembly Hall (16,038)
Champaign, IL
1/26/2000
no, ESPN+
at Iowa
Rivalry
W 69–58  11–6
(3–3)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500)
Iowa City, IA
1/30/2000
no, CBS
at No. 9 Michigan State L 66–91  11–7
(3–4)
Breslin Student Events Center (14,659)
East Lansing, MI
2/2/2000
no, ESPN+
Minnesota W 73–59  12–7
(4–4)
Assembly Hall (12,977)
Champaign, IL
2/6/2000
no, ESPN+
at Penn State W 51–50  13–7
(5–4)
Bryce Jordan Center (13,001)
University Park, PA
2/9/2000
no, no
Michigan W 75–59  14–7
(6–4)
Assembly Hall (15,539)
Champaign, IL
2/12/2000
no, IowaSports
Iowa
Rivalry
W 78–50  15–7
(7–4)
Assembly Hall (16,450)
Champaign, IL
2/17/2000
no, ESPN
at Minnesota W 89–80  16–7
(8–4)
Williams Arena (13,795)
Minneapolis, MN
2/19/2000
no, ESPN+
at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 63–30  17–7
(9–4)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, IL
2/22/2000
no, ESPN
No. 16 Indiana
Rivalry
W 87–63  18–7
(10–4)
Assembly Hall (16,450)
Champaign, IL
2/27/2000
4:00 pm, CBS
at No. 6 Ohio State L 51–64  18–8
(10–5)
Value City Arena (19,100)
Columbus, OH
3/4/2000
no, ESPN+
No. 25 Northwestern
Rivalry
W 73–44  19–8
(11–5)
Assembly Hall (16,450)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten tournament
3/10/2000
no, ESPN2
(4) No. 21 vs. (5) No. 13 Indiana
Quarterfinals
W 72–69  20–8
United Center (21,141)
Chicago, IL
3/11/2000
2:30 pm, CBS
(4) No. 21 vs. (9) Penn State
Semifinals
W 94–84  21–8
United Center (22,011)
Chicago, IL
3/12/2000
4:00 pm, CBS
(4) No. 21 vs. (2) No. 5 Michigan State
Championship
L 61–76  21–9
United Center (19,663)
Chicago, IL
NCAA tournament
3/17/2000
no, CBS
(4E) No. 21 vs. (13E) Penn
First Round
W 68–58  22–9
Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (14,252)
Winston-Salem, NC
3/19/2000
no, CBS
(4E) No. 21 vs. (5E) Florida
Second Round
L 76–93  22–10
Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (14,252)
Winston-Salem, NC
*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 2 pt. Field Goals 3 pt. Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points
Cory Bradford[4] 32 60 96 82 80 63 1 31 490
Frank Williams[5] 32 83 42 70 135 20 41 16 366
Marcus Griffin[6] 27 110 0 70 135 20 41 16 290
Brian Cook[7] 32 100 12 51 143 24 28 22 287
Cleotis Brown[8] 32 60 21 40 113 33 4 24 223
Sergio McClain[9] 29 67 4 51 109 71 5 53 197
Lucas Johnson[10] 32 21 29 67 106 62 7 25 196
Damir Krupalija[11] 27 38 5 16 112 28 6 20 107
Robert Archibald[12] 30 35 0 31 97 15 7 12 101
Sean Harrington[13] 30 6 20 20 15 29 1 9 92
Victor Chukwedebe 23 18 0 15 45 7 9 3 51
Nate Mast 21 2 1 8 8 16 1 6 15
Joe Cross 10 3 1 0 3 0 0 2 9

NCAA basketball tournament

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  • East regional
    • Illinois 68, Pennsylvania 58
    • Florida 93, Illinois 76

[14]

Awards and honors

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Rankings

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References

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  1. ^ "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  2. ^ NCAA Division I record book pg. 5
  3. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1999-2000 Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  4. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  5. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  6. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  7. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  8. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  9. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  10. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  11. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  12. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  13. ^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  14. ^ 2000 NCAA Tournament
  15. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.