1915–16 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1915–16 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season The 1915–16 season was a follow-up to an undefeated season, in which the Fighting Illini men's basketball team won both a national and Big Ten Conference championship. Coached by Ralph Jones, the Illini continued their winning ways by finishing the season with an overall record of 13 wins and 3 losses and a 9 win 3 loss conference mark. Taking second in the Western Conference to the National Champion Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team. During the season, the Illini dropped two games to Northwestern and one to eventual champion Wisconsin, but the first loss to the Wildcats was the Illini's first-ever overtime game as Northwestern scored two points in the overtime period to beat Illinois, 23–21, February 12, 1916, at what is now the Kenney Gym Annex. The starting lineup included Gordon Otto, Dan W. Elwell and Ralf Woods rotating at the forward position, center C. G. Alwood, and guards Clarence Applegran and captain Ray Woods.A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pg.20 Woods was named an All-American for his work during this season.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC Woods and Alwood were named All-Big Ten players for the season.

Roster

Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1915–16 , FightingIllini.com

!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

Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws PointsRalf Woods 103552122Gordon Otto 15254090Clyde Alwood 1545090Ray Woods1626052John Felmley 512226Dan Elwell 106112Clarence Applegran 16306

Awards and honors Ray Woods was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. Woods was also selected as an All-American for the 1915–16 season.

References