1976–77 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. Not ranked
APNo. Not ranked
Record16–14 (8–10 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPAudie Matthews
CaptainAudie Matthews
Home arenaAssembly Hall
1976–77 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 1 Michigan16–2 .88926–4  .867
Purdue14–4 .77820–8  .714
Iowa12–6 .66720–7  .741
Indiana11–7 .61116–11  .593
Michigan State9–9 .50012–15  .444
Illinois8–10 .44416–14  .533
Wisconsin7–11 .38911–16  .407
Northwestern7–11 .3899–18  .333
Ohio State6–12 .33311–16  .407
No. 13 Minnesota*0–18 .0000–27  .000
Rankings from AP Poll
*Minnesota forfeited all games due to NCAA sanctions.
Disputed record (15–3, 24–3)

The 1976–77 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1976-77 team would include Lou Henson's first group of recruited athletes. Levi Cobb, Neil Bresnahan, and Steve Lanter contributed to a quick start on the season and a 7-1 record. The team's only loss was by 1 point at the hands of Missouri in the Show Me Classic played in Columbia, MO. Before the Big Ten season commenced the Illini had staked themselves to an 8-4 record, yet the fans support still did not yet believe in Henson's squad.

A mere 6,938 fans attended a mid-December Saturday afternoon game versus Arizona State. Even with fewer fans coming out, the team set a series of offensive records in the Big Ten opener against Ohio State. The records included converting on 19 of their first 21 shots and shooting 69.4 percent for the game.

During the course of the season the Illini would lose twice to the Golden Gophers, however, before the NCAA Tournament it was determined that Minnesota had committed violations that resulted in sanctions against them, including the forfeiture of all of their games. This gave the Illini two additional wins and a final record of 16-14, with an 8-10 conference mark.

The team's starting lineup included Rick Leighty, Ken Ferdinand and Levi Cobb as forwards, Audie Matthews and Steve Lanter at the guard positions, and Rich Adams playing center.

Roster

1976–77 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 10 Rick Kirby 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) FrUrbana High School Urbana, Illinois
F 12 Ken Ferdinand 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)200 lb (91 kg) SoUrbana High School Urbana, Illinois
G 20 Jeff Berry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)175 lb (79 kg) FrMorgan Park High School Chicago, Illinois
G 21 Steve Lanter 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)175 lb (79 kg) RS FrMascoutah Community High School Belleville, Illinois
G 23 Larry Lubin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)175 lb (79 kg) SoNew Trier High School Glencoe, Illinois
F 24 Tom Gerhardt 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)210 lb (95 kg) JrDe La Salle High School Chicago, Illinois
G 30 Rob Judson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)170 lb (77 kg) FrZion-Benton High School Zion, Illinois
F 31 Neil Bresnahan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)195 lb (88 kg) FrFenwick High School Oak Park, Illinois
F 32 Levi Cobb 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)205 lb (93 kg) FrMorgan Park High School Chicago, Illinois
G/F 34 Rick Leighty 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrLawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
F 40 Rich Adams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)200 lb (91 kg) JrColerain High School Cincinnati, Ohio
G/F 42 Tim Bushell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)195 lb (88 kg) SrLincoln Community High School Lincoln, Illinois
G/F 44 Audie Matthews (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)185 lb (84 kg) JrBloom High School Chicago Heights, Illinois
G 50 Jeff Carter 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)175 lb (79 kg) FrSt. Ignatius High School Chicago, Illinois
G 52 Matt Meyer 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)165 lb (75 kg) SoForman High School Manito, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[1] [2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV		 Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/26/1976*
no, no 		@ St. Louis W 68-65  1 - 0
 Kiel Auditorium (9,148)
St. Louis, MO
12/3/1976*
no, no 		@ Missouri
Show Me Classic		 L 75-76  1 - 1
 Hearnes Center (5,227)
Columbia, MO
12/4/1976*
no, no 		vs St. Louis
Show-Me Classic		 W 54-46  2 - 1
 Hearnes Center (5,227)
Columbia, MO
12/8/1976*
no, no 		vs. San Jose State W 84-70  3 - 1
 Assembly Hall (6,113)
Champaign, IL
12/11/1976*
no, no 		vs. Nebraska W 67-63  4 - 1
 Assembly Hall (7,055)
Champaign, IL
12/13/1976*
no, no 		vs. Cleveland State
Illini Classic		 W 72-70  5 - 1
 Assembly Hall (5,389)
Champaign, IL
12/17/1976*
no, no 		vs. Cal Poly
Illini Classic		 W 67-65  6 - 1
 Assembly Hall (5,489)
Champaign, IL
12/18/1976*
no, no 		vs. Arizona State W 80-74  7 - 1
 Assembly Hall (6,938)
Champaign, IL
12/27/1976*
no, no 		vs. Houston
Rainbow Classic		 L 66-69  7 - 2
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-)
Honolulu, HI
12/29/1976*
no, no 		vs. William & Mary
Rainbow Classic		 W 73-64  8 - 2
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-)
Honolulu, HI
12/30/1976*
no, no 		vs. St. John's
Rainbow Classic		 L 52-56  8 - 3
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (1,849)
Honolulu, HI
1/1/1977*
no, no 		@ Long Beach State W 81-71  8 - 4
 Gold Mine (4,030)
Long Beach, CA
Big Ten regular season
1/6/1977
no, no 		@ Ohio State W 89-72  9 - 4 ( 1 - 0 )
 St. John's Arena (6,907)
Columbus, OH
1/8/1977
no, no 		@ Indiana
Rivalry		 L 60-80  9 - 5 ( 1 - 1 )
 Assembly Hall (16,497)
Bloomington, IN
1/13/1977
no, no 		vs. #9 Minnesota L 69-83  10 - 5 ( 2 - 1 )
 Assembly Hall (7,689)
Champaign, IL
1/15/1977
no, no 		vs. Iowa
Rivalry		 L 81-84 ot 10 - 6 ( 2 - 2 )
 Assembly Hall (7,246)
Champaign, IL
1/20/1977
no, no 		@ Michigan State L 58-67  10 - 7 ( 2 - 3 )
 Jenison Fieldhouse (3,417)
East Lansing, MI
1/22/1977
no, no 		@ #5 Michigan L 61-66  10 - 8 ( 2 - 4 )
 Crisler Arena (13,609)
Ann Arbor, MI
1/24/1977
no, no 		vs. Northwestern W 71-68  11 - 8 ( 3 - 4 )
 Assembly Hall (5,810)
Champaign, IL
1/29/1977
no, no 		@ #18 Purdue L 63-66  11 - 9 ( 3 - 5 )
 Mackey Arena (12,800)
West Lafayette, IN
2/3/1977
no, no 		vs. Wisconsin W 82-72  12 - 9 ( 4 - 5 )
 Assembly Hall (6,144)
Champaign, IL
2/5/1977
no, no 		vs. #18 Purdue W 71-70  13 - 9 ( 5 - 5 )
 Assembly Hall (9,700)
Champaign, IL
2/10/1977
no, no 		@ Northwestern W 65-63  14 - 9 ( 6 - 5 )
 McGaw Memorial Hall (3,966)
Evanston, IL
2/12/1977
no, no 		@ Wisconsin L 50-62  13 - 8 ( 6 - 6 )
 Wisconsin Field House (7,589)
Madison, WI
2/17/1977
no, no 		vs. Indiana
Rivalry		 W 73-69  14 - 8 ( 7 - 6 )
 Assembly Hall (11,172)
Champaign, IL
2/19/1977
no, no 		vs. Ohio State L 60-64  14 - 9 ( 7 - 7 )
 Assembly Hall (8,849)
Champaign, IL
2/24/1977
no, no 		@ Iowa
Rivalry		 L 64-76  14 - 10 ( 7 - 8 )
 Iowa Field House (9,875)
Iowa City, IA
2/26/1977
no, no 		@ #13 Minnesota L 70-72  15 - 10 ( 8 - 8 )
 Williams Arena (15,163)
Minneapolis, MN
3/3/1977
no, no 		vs. #3 Michigan L 72-87  15 - 11 ( 8 - 9 )
 Assembly Hall (10,524)
Champaign, IL
3/5/1977
no, no 		vs. Michigan State L 61-62  15 - 12 ( 8 - 10 )
 Assembly Hall (8,021)
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player Games Played Minutes Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Assists Points
Audie Matthews[4]3010232027515175479
Rich Adams[4]308461714517162387
Levi Cobb[4]309421265419257306
Ken Ferdinand[4]285211094310827261
Neil Bresnahan[4]28684804613831206
Steve Lanter[4]30966763949103191
Rick Leighty[4]2640845117237101
Rob Judson14162201451954
Larry Lubin25185143232731
Tom Gerhardt2318464341416
Rick Kirby17102642716
Jeff Berry3200000
Tim Bushell1100000
Jeff Carter2200000
Matt Meyer2200000

Awards and honors

  • Audie Matthews
    • Team Most Valuable Player [5]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick

[6]

Rankings

References

  1. ↑ Men's Basketball Roster
  2. ↑ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1976-77 Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  6. ↑ 1977 NBA Draft Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
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