1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.
Regular season
The 1962-63 season saw the Fighting Illini finish with 20-6 overall, 11-3 in the conference. Senior Dave Downey led the team in scoring, as he had the previous two seasons, and he moved into first on the all-time scoring list. Downey also set the school record for points in a game , which still stands, with 53 in a road loss to Indiana on February 16, 1963. Illinois was a game back of first place in the league standings with only two games remaining when the Assembly Hall opened its doors on March 4, 1963. Illinois’ first game at the Hall was an exciting 79-73 victory over Northwestern before 16,137 fans to stay within a game of first-place Ohio State . After Illinois edged Iowa , 73-69, in the last game of the season, the Fighting Illini would need an overtime loss two hours later by the Buckeyes at Indiana to share the title. During the season the Illini would win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Holiday Festival and make the Elite Eight of the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament , losing to eventual champion Loyola (Chicago) .
Roster
1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
F
10
Larry Bauer
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
207 lb (94 kg)
So
Springfield High School
Springfield, Illinois
G
11
Bob Meadows
5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
157 lb (71 kg)
So
Collinsville High School
Collinsville, Illinois
G
12
Tal Brody
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
165 lb (75 kg)
So
Central High School
Trenton, New Jersey
F
14
John Love
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
199 lb (90 kg)
Jr
Ottawa Township High School
Ottawa, Illinois
G
22
Jay Lovelace
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
164 lb (74 kg)
Sr
Carbondale Community High School
Carbondale, Illinois
C
25
Bill Burwell
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
227 lb (103 kg)
Sr
Boys High School
Brooklyn, New York
F
30
Jeff Ferguson
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Jr
Benton Consolidated High School
Benton, Illinois
G
31
Tony Latham
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
163 lb (74 kg)
So
Waukegan High School
Waukegan, Illinois
G
32
Bill Edwards
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
208 lb (94 kg)
Jr
Windsor High School
Windsor, Illinois
F
33
Bogie Redmon
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
218 lb (99 kg)
So
Collinsville High School
Collinsville, Illinois
G
34
Bill McKeown
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
So
Clinton High School
Clinton, Illinois
C
35
Skip Thoren
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
201 lb (91 kg)
So
Rockford East High School
Rockford, Illinois
F
40
Dave Downey
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
204 lb (93 kg)
Sr
Canton High School
Canton, Illinois
F
44
Bob Starnes (C)
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
187 lb (85 kg)
Sr
Gage Park High School
Chicago, Illinois
G
53
Bill Small
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Sr
West Aurora High School
Aurora, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule
Source[ 1]
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state[ 2]
Non-Conference regular season
11/30/1962 *no, no
No. 8
Butler
W 66-49
1-0
Huff Hall (6,912)Champaign, IL
12/6/1962 *no, no
Washington (St. Louis )
W 99-55
2-0
Huff Hall (6,912)Champaign, IL
12/16/1962 *no, no
No. 10
at Iowa State
W 76-73
3-0
Iowa State Armory (7,000)Ames, IA
12/17/1962 *no, no
No. 10
San Jose State
W 90-64
4-0
Huff Hall (6,912)Champaign, IL
12/22/1962 *no, no
No. 8
Oklahoma
W 93-90
5-0
Huff Hall (6,000)Champaign, IL
12/26/1962 *no, no
No. 4
vs. Penn ECAC Holiday Festival
W 98-66
6-0
Madison Square Garden (14,238)New York, NY
12/28/1962 *no, no
No. 4
at NYU ECAC Holiday Festival
W 91-84
7-0
Madison Square Garden (15,036)New York, NY
12/29/1962 *no, no
No. 4
vs. West Virginia ECAC Holiday Festival
W 92-74
8-0
Madison Square Garden (12,125)New York, NY
12/31/1962 *no, no
No. 3
vs. Notre Dame
L 88-90
8-1
Chicago Stadium (10,346)Chicago, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/5/1963 no, no
No. 3
at Iowa Rivalry
W 85-76
9-1 (1-0)
Iowa Field House (12,600)Iowa City, IA
1/7/1963 no, no
No. 5
No. 5 Ohio State
W 90-78
10-1 (2-0)
Huff Hall (6,912)Champaign, IL
1/12/1963 no, no
No. 5
Purdue
W 106-82
11-1 (3-0)
Huff Hall (6,756)Champaign, IL
1/14/1963 no, no
No. 3
at Northwestern Rivalry
W 78–76
12-1 (4-0)
McGaw Memorial Hall (7,200)Evanston, IL
1/26/1963 *no, no
No. 4
vs. No. 1 Cincinnati
L 53-62
12-2
Chicago Stadium (23,000)Chicago, IL
2/4/1963 no, no
No. 4
Indiana Rivalry
W 104-101
13-2 (5-0)
Huff Hall (6,912)Champaign, IL
2/9/1963 no, no
No. 4
Michigan State
W 91-86
14-2 (6-0)
Huff Hall (6,797)Champaign, IL
2/11/1963 no, no
No. 4
at Wisconsin
L 77-84
14-3 (6-1)
Wisconsin Field House (12,088)Madison, WI
2/16/1963 no, no
No. 6
at Indiana Rivalry
L 100-103
14-4 (6-2)
Gladstein Fieldhouse (10,300)Bloomington, IN
2/19/1963 no, no
No. 6
at Purdue
W 87-79
15-4 (7-2)
Lambert Fieldhouse (9,637)West Lafayette, IN
2/23/1963 no, no
No. 6
Wisconsin
W 89-77
16-4 (8-2)
Huff Hall (6,912)Champaign, IL
2/25/1963 no, no
No. 6
at Minnesota
W 81-70
17-4 (9-2)
Williams Arena (11,226)Minneapolis, MN
3/2/1963 no, no
No. 6
at Michigan
L 81-84
17-5 (9-3)
Yost Ice Arena (9,450)Ann Arbor, MI
3/4/1963 no, no
No. 8
Northwestern Rivalry
W 79-73
18-5 (10-3)
Assembly Hall (16,137)Champaign, IL
3/9/1963 no, no
No. 8
Iowa Rivalry
W 73-69
19-5 (11-3)
Assembly Hall (16,007)Champaign, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/15/1963 *no, no
No. 8
vs. Bowling Green NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional Semi-Final [ 3]
W 90-67
20-5
Jenison Fieldhouse (12,143)East Lansing, MI
3/16/1963 *no, no
No. 8
vs. Loyola (Chicago) NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional Final
L 64–79
20-6
Jenison Fieldhouse (9,459)East Lansing, MI
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Rankings
Player stats
Player
Games Played
Field Goals
Free Throws
Rebounds
Points
Dave Downey
26
201
111
254
513
Bill Small
26
439
81
120
439
Bill Burwell
26
158
86
230
402
Bob Starnes
26
115
84
180
314
Tal Brody
26
95
63
90
253
Skip Thoren
26
53
37
150
143
Bill Edwards
26
23
10
28
56
Bogie Redmon
23
22
11
72
55
Bill McKeown
14
4
4
12
12
John Love
8
3
2
7
8
Larry Bauer
5
2
2
6
6
Jay Lovelace
4
0
0
0
0
[ 4]
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
[ 6]
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics