1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team American college basketball season
1988–89 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W
L
PCT W
L
PCT
No. 8 Indiana 15
–
3
.833
27
–
8
.771
No. 3 Illinois 14
–
4
.778
31
–
5
.861
No. 10 Michigan 12
–
6
.667
30
–
7
.811
No. 14 Iowa 10
–
8
.556
23
–
10
.697
Minnesota 9
–
9
.500
19
–
12
.613
Wisconsin 8
–
10
.444
18
–
12
.600
Purdue 8
–
10
.444
15
–
16
.484
Ohio State 6
–
12
.333
19
–
15
.559
Michigan State 6
–
12
.333
18
–
15
.545
Northwestern 2
–
16
.111
9
–
19
.321
Rankings from AP Poll
1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
The 1988-89 team may have been the most talented team ever assembled at the University of Illinois . The team was so athletic that they could "run and alley-oop " baskets using even the non-starting players, and a record number of 100+ game scores reflected this fact. The players known as the
“Flying Illini,” included all the important pieces from the 1987-88 squad (Kenny Battle , Kendall Gill , Steve Bardo , Lowell Hamilton , Nick Anderson and Larry Smith ) as well as junior college All-American P.J. Bowman and former high school All-American Marcus Liberty . The Fighting Illini won their first 16 games and were ranked No. 2 in the nation going into a nationally televised game against Georgia Tech , whom Illinois had already beaten, 80-75, at the Rainbow Classic in December. The Yellow Jackets led, 47-31, but Illinois managed to surge back to force overtime, eventually needing two extra periods to win the game. Along with the No. 1 ranking the next day came some bad news. Illinois’ catalyst, Gill, had broken a bone in his foot and would miss the next 12 games. Hurt by the loss of Gill, Illinois lost three of the next four games and its No. 1 ranking. The Illini rallied to finish second in the Big Ten with a 14-4 record and with Gill back in the lineup, the Illini were awarded a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tournament . After rolling to victories over McNeese State and Ball State at the Hoosier Dome , a powerpacked regional in Minneapolis with Missouri , Louisville and Syracuse , stood in the way of Illinois’ trip to the Final Four .
Louisville fell victim to Illinois, losing 83-69, which set up a regional final matchup with Syracuse. The Fighting Illini held off Syracuse to advance to the Final Four in Seattle where Illinois faced Michigan , a team it
had beaten twice already in conference play, in the national semifinals. Michigan was inspired by the firing of their coach prior to the tournament, and won a game that contained 33 lead changes.[ 2]
Roster
1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G 10
P.J. Bowman 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg)
Jr Centennial High School
Champaign, Illinois
G 13
Kendall Gill 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
Jr Rich Central High School
Matteson, Illinois
G 15
Travis Smith 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg)
So Gallatin High School
Ridgway, Illinois
G 22
Eddie Manzke 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg)
Sr Marist High School
Orland Park, Illinois
G 23
Larry Smith 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg)
Jr Alton High School
Alton, Illinois
F 24
Ervin Small 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg)
Jr Simeon High School
Chicago, Illinois
G/F 25
Nick Anderson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg)
Jr Simeon High School
Chicago, Illinois
G 30
Marcus Liberty 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg)
So King High School
Chicago, Illinois
G/F 32
Brian O'Connell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
Jr Schaumburg High School
Schaumburg, Illinois
F 33
Kenny Battle (C)
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg)
RS Sr West Aurora High School
Aurora, Illinois
F 34
Andy Kaufmann 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg)
Fr Jacksonville High School
Jacksonville, Illinois
G/F 35
Stephen Bardo 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg)
Jr Carbondale Community High School
Carbondale, Illinois
F 50
Mike MacDonald 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg)
Sr Streamwood High School
Streamwood, Illinois
F/C 45
Lowell Hamilton (C)
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg)
Sr Providence St. Mel High School
Chicago, Illinois
Head coach Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible(W) Walk-on Roster
Schedule
Source[ 3]
Date
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance)
Non-Conference regular season
11/26/1988 *7 p.m., WCIA
No. 9
Illinois-Chicago W 85-59 1-0
Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
11/29/1988 *7 p.m., WCIA
No. 7
Metro State W 86-55 2-0
Assembly Hall (13,911)Champaign, IL
12/3/1988 *7 p.m., WCIA
No. 7
Ole Miss W 91-79 3-0
Assembly Hall (14,386)Champaign, IL
12/6/1988 *8:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 7
No. 19 Florida
W 97-67 4-0
Assembly Hall (15,020)Champaign, IL
12/9/1988 *7 p.m., WCIA
No. 7
Duquesne Illini Classic W 112-81 5-0
Assembly Hall (14,532)Champaign, IL
12/10/1988 *8 p.m., WCIA
No. 7
Arkansas-Little Rock Illini Classic W 107-88 6-0
Assembly Hall (14,887)Champaign, IL
12/17/1988 *7 p.m., WCIA
No. 6
Tennessee Tech W 105-77 7-0
Assembly Hall (12,794)Champaign, IL
12/19/1988 *8 p.m., WCIA
No. 6
vs. No. 10 Missouri Braggin' Rights W 87-84 8-0
St. Louis Arena St. Louis, MO
12/22/1988 *7:30 p.m., WCIA
No. 5
at Louisiana State
W 127-100 9-0
Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
12/28/1988 *10 p.m., none
No. 4
vs. Tulsa Rainbow Classic W 85-58 10-0
Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI
12/29/1988 *6 p.m., none
No. 4
vs. No. 17 Georgia Tech Rainbow Classic W 80-75 11-0
Neal S. Blaisdell Center (5,775)Honolulu, HI
12/31/1988 *12:15 a.m., none
No. 4
at Hawaii Rainbow Classic W 96-87 12-0
Neal S. Blaisdell Center (6,379)Honolulu, HI
Big Ten regular season
1/7/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 3
Michigan State W 71-54 13-0
Assembly Hall (16,497)Champaign, IL
1/12/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 2
Wisconsin W 103-80 14-0
Assembly Hall (14,433)Champaign, IL
1/14/1989 12 p.m., WCIA
No. 2
No. 6 Michigan
W 96-84 15-0
Assembly Hall (14,499)Champaign, IL
1/19/1989 9 p.m., ESPN
No. 2
at Northwestern Rivalry W 75-70 16-0
McGaw Hall Evanston, IL
1/22/1989 *12 p.m., ABC
No. 2
Georgia Tech W 103-92 2OT
17-0
Assembly Hall (16,561)Champaign, IL
1/26/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 1
at Minnesota
L 62-69 17-1
Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
1/28/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 1
No. 16 Indiana Rivalry W 75-65 18-1
Assembly Hall (16,563)Champaign, IL
2/2/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 2
at Purdue
L 72-76 18-2
Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
2/5/1989 3 p.m., ABC
No. 2
at No. 9 Iowa Rivalry L 82-86 18-3
Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA
2/9/1980 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 7
No. 16 Ohio State
W 62-60 19-3
Assembly Hall (16,439)Champaign, IL
2/11/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 7
Northwestern Rivalry W 86-69 20-3
Assembly Hall (16,471)Champaign, IL
2/16/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 5
at Michigan State
W 75-56 21-3
Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
2/18/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 5
at Wisconsin
L 52-72 21-4
Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
2/20/1989 8:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 5
Purdue W 102-75 22-4
Assembly Hall (16,415)Champaign, IL
2/26/1989 3 p.m., ABC
No. 10
at Ohio State
W 94-71 23-4
St. John Arena Columbus, OH
3/2/1989 7 p.m., WCIA
No. 8
Minnesota W 63-58 24-4
Assembly Hall (16,455)Champaign, IL
3/5/1989 3 p.m., ABC
No. 8
at No. 3 Indiana Rivalry W 70-67 25-4
Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
3/8/1989 9 p.m., ESPN
No. 4
No. 15 Iowa Rivalry W 118-94 26-4
Assembly Hall (16,552)Champaign, IL
3/11/1989 3 p.m., ABC
No. 4
at No. 8 Michigan
W 89-73 27-4
Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI
NCAA tournament
3/16/1989 *6 p.m., CBS
(1 MW) No. 3
vs. (16 MW) McNeese State First Round W 77-71 28-4
Hoosier Dome Indianapolis, IN
3/18/1989 *1:20 p.m., CBS
(1 MW) No. 3
vs. (9 MW) No. 18 Ball State Second Round W 72-60 29-4
Hoosier Dome (37,444)Indianapolis, IN
3/24/1989 *7 p.m., CBS
(1 MW) No. 3
vs. (4 MW) No. 12 Louisville Regional semifinals W 83-69 30-4
Metrodome Minneapolis, MN
3/26/1989 *1 p.m., CBS
(1 MW) No. 3
vs. (2 MW) No. 7 Syracuse Regional Finals W 89-86 31-4
Metrodome (33,469)Minneapolis, MN
4/1/1989 *7 p.m., CBS
(1 MW) No. 3
vs. (3 S) No. 10 Michigan National semifinals L 81-83 31-5
Kingdome Seattle, WA
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Player stats
Player
Games Played
Minutes Played
2 pt. Field Goals
3 pt. Field Goals
Free Throws
Rebounds
Assists
Blocks
Steals
Points
Nick Anderson [ 4] 36
1125
238
24
99
285
72
32
57
647
Kenny Battle [ 5] 36
1105
209
9
151
174
64
13
89
596
Lowell Hamilton [ 6] 36
943
219
0
50
204
24
31
21
488
Kendall Gill [ 7] 24
681
105
38
46
70
91
6
51
370
Marcus Liberty [ 8] 36
748
114
6
57
141
42
10
38
303
Stephen Bardo [ 9] 36
1000
65
29
76
144
148
8
34
293
Larry Smith [ 6] 36
695
63
3
40
73
157
5
28
175
P.J. Bowman[ 6]
29
284
6
22
9
28
26
1
7
87
Ervin Small[ 6]
36
392
26
0
27
76
5
0
10
77
Andy Kaufmann [ 6] 12
136
11
5
14
20
8
1
5
51
Mike MacDonald[ 6]
23
60
7
0
1
10
1
0
1
15
Brian O'Connell[ 6]
4
5
1
0
2
3
0
0
0
4
Eddie Manzke[ 6]
18
25
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
1
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
[ 12]
Rankings
References
^ "Rainbow Classic History" . Archived from the original on March 18, 2005. Retrieved March 18, 2013 .^ Cotton, Anthony (April 2, 1989). "Michigan Survives Dogfight With Illini" . The Washington Post . Retrieved October 15, 2013 . ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1988-89 Archived February 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , FightingIllini.com^ Season Stats Archived 2010-11-21 at the Wayback Machine ^ Season Stats Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine ^ a b c d e f g h "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012 .^ Season Stats Archived 2007-10-30 at the Wayback Machine ^ Season Stats Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine ^ Season Stats Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine ^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013 .^ 1989 NBA draft Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
