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

Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1976–77 , FightingIllini.com

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

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

Player stats Player Games played Minutes played Field goals Free throws Rebounds Assists PointsAudie Matthews3010232027515175479Rich Adams 308461714517162387Levi Cobb309421265419257306Ken Ferdinand285211094310827261Neil Bresnahan 28684804613831206Steve Lanter30966763949103191Rick Leighty 2640845117237101Rob Judson 14162201451954Larry Lubin 25185143232731Tom Gerhardt 2318464341416Rick Kirby 17102642716Jeff Berry 3200000Tim Bushell 1100000Jeff Carter 2200000Matt Meyer 2200000

Awards and honors Audie Matthews Team Most Valuable Player

Team players drafted into the NBA Player NBA Club Round Pick

Rankings

References