1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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

Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1962–63, FightingIllini.com

Schedule |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season |- align="center" bgcolor=""

!colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season

!colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA Tournament

Rankings

Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws Rebounds PointsDave Downey 26201111254513Bill Small2643981120439Bill Burwell 2615886230402Bob Starnes2611584180314Tal Brody26956390253Skip Thoren265337150143Bill Edwards 2623102856Bogie Redmon 2322117255Bill McKeown 14441212John Love83278Larry Bauer 52266Jay Lovelace40000

Awards and honors Dave Downey Helms 1st team All-American Converse 2nd team All-American Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American Team Most Valuable Player Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Bill Small Converse Honorable Mention All-American Skip Thoren Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

Team players drafted into the NBA Player NBA club Round PickBill BurwellSt. Louis Hawks3 24 Dave DowneySan Francisco Warriors430Bill SmallDetroit Pistons540

References