1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
The 1987–88 season brought Lou Henson his 500th career victory and laid the foundation for what would be an incredible history making season in 1988–1989.
Roster
1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G
11
Travis Smith
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Ridgway High School
Ridgway, Illinois
G
13
Kendall Gill
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
So
Rich Central High School
Matteson, Illinois
G
15
Mark Shapland
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Jr
Monticello High School
Monticello, Illinois
G
21
Glynn Blackwell (C)
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Sr
Highland Park Community High School
Highland Park, Michigan
G
23
Larry Smith
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
So
Alton High School
Alton, Illinois
F
24
Ervin Small
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
So
Simeon High School
Chicago, Illinois
G/F
25
Nick Anderson
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
So
Simeon High School
Chicago, Illinois
G
30
Eddie Manzke
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Jr
Marist High School
Orland Park, Illinois
F
32
Bob Starnes
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
RS Fr
St. Thomas Aquinas High School
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
F
33
Kenny Battle
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
RS Jr
West Aurora High School
Aurora, Illinois
G/F
35
Stephen Bardo
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
So
Carbondale Community High School
Carbondale, Illinois
F
40
Mike MacDonald
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Jr
Streamwood High School
Streamwood, Illinois
F
44
Phil Kunz
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
So
Carlyle High School
Carlyle, Illinois
F
45
Lowell Hamilton
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Jr
Providence St. Mel High School
Chicago, Illinois
F/C
50
Bryan Brickner
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
So
Scales Mound High School
Scales Mound, Illinois
C
54
Jens Kujawa (C)
7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
245 lb (111 kg)
Jr
Taylorville High School
Braunschweig , West Germany
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
All-Time Illini Roster
Source[1]
[2]
Schedule
Source[3]
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/27/1987 *no, no
vs. Baylor Maui Invitational
W 73-50
1-0
Lahaina Civic Center (1,200)Maui, HI
11/28/1987 *no, no
vs. Villanova Maui Invitational
L 76-78
1-1
Lahaina Civic Center (1,200)Maui, HI
11/29/1987 *no, no
vs. No. 7 Kansas Maui Invitational
W 81-75
2-1
Lahaina Civic Center (1,000)Maui, HI
12/2/1987 *no, no
Chicago State
W 86-57
3-1
Assembly Hall (13,486)Champaign, IL
12/5/1987 *no, no
Mississippi Valley State
W 111-73
4-1
Assembly Hall (14,354)Champaign
12/8/1987 *no, no
Austin Peay
W 100-62
5-1
Assembly Hall (14,519)Champaign
12/11/1987 *no, no
Illinois-Chicago Illini Classic
W 109-53
6-1
Assembly Hall (13,653)Champaign, IL
12/12/1987 *no, no
Auburn Illini Classic
W 107-103 ot
7-1
Assembly Hall (14,847)Champaign, IL
12/19/1987 *no, no
North Carolina
L 74-85
7-2
Assembly Hall (16,712)Champaign, IL
12/22/1987 *no, no
vs. No. 17 Missouri Braggin' Rights
W 75-63
8-2
St. Louis Arena (18,224)St. Louis, MO
12/30/1987 *no, no
at Colorado
W 86-68
9-2
Coors Events Center (8,241)Denver, CO
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1988 no, no
No. 11 Purdue
L 68-81
9-3 (0-1)
Assembly Hall (16,654)Champaign, IL
1/7/1988 no, no
No. 19
at Minnesota
W 65-61 ot
10-3 (1-1)
Williams Arena (10,988)Minneapolis, MN
1/9/1988 no, no
No. 19
Michigan State
W 77-62
11-3 (2-1)
Assembly Hall (16,616)Champaign, IL
1/16/1988 no, no
No. 20
at Wisconsin
W 80-65
12-3 (3-1)
Wisconsin Field House (11,068)Madison, WI
1/17/1988 *no, no
No. 20
Tennessee
W 103-79
13-3
Assembly Hall (15,386)Champaign, IL
1/21/1988 no, no
No. 13
at No. 19 Iowa Rivalry
L 79-93
13-4 (3-2)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500)Iowa City, IA
1/23/1988 no, no
No. 13
Northwestern Rivalry
W 79-48
14-4 (4-2)
Assembly Hall (14,606)Champaign, IL
3/4/1987 no, no
No. 13
at No. 8 Michigan
L 64-76
14-5 (4-3)
Crisler Arena (13,609)Ann Arbor, MI
1/30/1988 *no, no
No. 13
at No. 1 Arizona
L 70-78
14-6
McKale Center (13,227)Tucson, AZ
2/4/1988 no, no
No. 17
at Ohio State
L 60-64
14-7 (4-4)
St. John Arena (13,320)Columbus, OH
2/6/1988 no, no
No. 17
No. 3 Indiana Rivalry
L 74-75
14-8 (4-5)
Assembly Hall (16,671)Champaign, IL
2/11/1988 no, no
Minnesota
W 86-50
15-8 (5-5)
Assembly Hall (14,313)Champaign, IL
2/13/1988 no, no
at Michigan State
W 83-65
16-8 (6-5)
Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004)East Lansing, MI
2/17/1988 no, no
Ohio State
W 118-86
17-8 (7-5)
Assembly Hall (14,587)Champaign, IL
2/21/1988 no, no
Wisconsin
W 85-65
18-8 (8-5)
Assembly Hall (16,348)Champaign, IL
2/25/1988 no, no
at No. 2 Purdue
L 79-93
18-9 (8-6)
Mackey Arena (14,123)West Lafayette, IN
2/29/1988 no, no
at Indiana Rivalry
W 75-65
19-9 (9-6)
Assembly Hall (16,233)Bloomington, IN
3/6/1988 no, no
No. 11 Iowa Rivalry
W 94-81
20-9 (10-6)
Assembly Hall (16,538)Champaign, IL
3/9/1988 no, no
No. 19
Michigan
W 85-74
21-9 (11-6)
Assembly Hall (16,605)Champaign, IL
3/12/1988 no, no
No. 19
at Northwestern Rivalry
W 79-74
22-9 (12-6)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)Evanston, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/18/1988 *no, no
(3 S) No. 16
vs. (14 S) Texas-San Antonio First Round
W 81-72
23-9
Riverfront Coliseum (16,562)Cincinnati, OH
3/20/1988 *no, no
(3 S) No. 16
vs. (6 S) Villanova Second Round
L 63-66
23-10
Riverfront Coliseum (16,562)Cincinnati, OH
*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]
33
909
221
2
77
217
53
28
37
525
Kenny Battle[5]
33
1027
197
0
122
183
55
10
72
516
Glynn Blackwell[6]
33
822
143
10
83
111
78
1
40
399
Kendall Gill[7]
33
946
107
21
67
73
138
3
65
344
Lowell Hamilton[8]
33
627
140
1
48
127
9
19
14
331
Stephen Bardo[9]
33
820
77
3
53
138
125
7
41
216
Jens Kujawa[10]
33
719
69
0
38
171
34
29
17
176
Larry Smith[11]
31
403
45
2
41
37
80
1
19
133
Phil Kunz
26
195
16
0
9
41
2
13
3
41
Ervin Small
24
98
10
0
6
36
4
2
1
26
Mark Shapland
6
22
2
0
0
9
1
0
0
4
Bryan Brickner
5
13
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
Travis Smith
2
2
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
Mike MacDonald
2
4
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
Eddie Manzke
6
18
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
Bob Starnes
2
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
Player
NBA Club
Round
Pick
[14]
Rankings
References
^ Men's Basketball Roster
^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1987-88 Archived February 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , FightingIllini.com
^ "pg. 121 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
^ "pg. 121 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
^ "pg. 121 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
^ "pg. 121 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
^ "pg. 121 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
^ "pg. 121 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
^ "pg. 121 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
^ "pg. 121 Season Stats" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013 .
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013 .
^ 1988 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