# 1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1950–51 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

A 13 win conference season marked only the second time since 1942 that the Fighting Illini men's basketball team had completed that feat. The only time they finished with a better conference record was 1943, where they completed the season with a perfect 12-0 record.
Head coach Harry Combes had guided his team to a Big Ten championship, a third-place finish in the 1951 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 5 in the nation. This was Combes 2nd Big Ten Championship as well as his 2nd third-place finish in the NCAA tournament within his first 4 years as head coach.
The 1950-51 team compiled an overall record of 22 wins and 5 losses with a conference record of 13 wins and 1 loss. The season featured a rematch with Kentucky, which had downed the Illini in the national semifinals in 1949. Illinois beat Columbia, 79-71, and North Carolina State, 84-70, to get to the national semifinals and a rematch with the Wildcats. In a heart-breaking loss, Kentucky nipped Illinois, 76-74, on a shot by Wildcat sub Shelby Linville with 12 seconds remaining in the game. The Illini collected third place nationally by beating Oklahoma A&M, 61-46, in Minneapolis.
The starting lineup included captain Donald Sunderlage and Theodore Beach as forwards, Rodney Fletcher and Irving Bemoras at guard and Robert Peterson and Mack Follmer rotating at the center position.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/4/1950* no, no | | Marquette | W 66–47 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (6,532) Champaign, IL |
| 12/8/1950* no, no | | Oregon State | W 74–51 | 2-0 | Huff Hall (6,400) Champaign, IL |
| 12/9/1950* no, no | | at Toledo | L 54–68 | 2-1 | The Field House (6,300) Toledo, OH |
| 12/16/1950* no, no | | at DePaul | W 69–68 | 3-1 | Chicago Stadium (12,000) Chicago, IL |
| 12/20/1950* no, no | | Washington State | W 71–48 | 4-1 | Huff Hall (2,575) Champaign, IL |
| 12/22/1950* no, no | | Pennsylvania | W 75–65 | 5-1 | Huff Hall (2,411) Champaign, IL |
| 12/28/1950* no, no | No. 20 | DePaul | L 65–68 | 5-2 | Huff Hall (5,942) Champaign, IL |
| 12/29/1950* no, no | No. 20 | Butler | W 88–52 | 6-2 | Huff Hall (2,921) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/1/1951 no, no | No. 20 | at Wisconsin | W 71–69 $^{OT}$ | 7-2 (1-0) | Wisconsin Field House (12,500) Madison, WI |
| 1/6/1951 no, no | | Minnesota | W 70–62 | 8-2 (2-0) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 1/8/1951 no, no | | at Iowa Rivalry | L 62–83 | 9-2 (3-0) | Iowa Field House (13,732) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/13/1951 no, no | No. 14 | Michigan | W 68–47 | 10-2 (4-0) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 1/15/1951 no, no | No. 14 | at No. 6 Indiana Rivalry | L 53–64 | 10-3 (4-1) | The Fieldhouse (10,283) Bloomington, IN |
| 1/20/1951 no, no | No. 14 | Iowa Rivalry | W 69–53 | 11-3 (5-1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/5/1951 no, no | No. 14 | at Purdue | W 85–76 | 12-3 (6-1) | Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/10/1951 no, no | No. 16 | Wisconsin | W 63–52 | 13-3 (7-1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/12/1951 no, no | No. 16 | Ohio State | W 79–59 | 14-3 (8-1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/17/1951 no, no | No. 11 | Purdue | W 70–65 | 15-3 (9-1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/19/1951 no, no | No. 11 | No. 6 Indiana Rivalry | W 71–65 | 16-3 (10-1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/24/1951 no, no | No. 10 | at Ohio State | W 89–69 | 17-3 (11-1) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (4,220) Columbus, OH |
| 3/3/1951 no, no | No. 6 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 80–76 | 18-3 (12-1) | Patten Gymnasium (18,000) Evanston, IL |
| 3/5/1951 no, no | No. 5 | at Michigan State | W 49–43 | 19-3 (13-1) | Jenison Fieldhouse (6,234) East Lansing, MI |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/14/1951* no, no | No. 5 | at No. 4 Kansas State NCAA Tournament Warm-Up Game | L 72–91 | 19-4 | Ahearn Field House (14,000) Manhattan, KS |
| 3/20/1951* no, no | No. 5 | vs. No. 3 Columbia NCAA Tournament first round | W 79–71 | 20-4 | Madison Square Garden (17,107) New York, NY |
| 3/22/1951* no, no | No. 5 | vs. No. 8 NC State NCAA Tournament Second Round | W 84–70 | 21-4 | Madison Square Garden (17,000) New York, NY |
| 3/24/1951* no, no | No. 5 | vs. No. 1 Kentucky NCAA Tournament East Regional Final | L 74–76 | 21-5 | Madison Square Garden (17,000) New York, NY |
| 3/27/1951* no, no | No. 5 | vs. No. 14 Oklahoma A&M NCAA Tournament 3rd Place Game | W 57–53 | 22-5 | Williams Arena (15,438) Minneapolis, MN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Points |
| Don Sunderlage | 27 | 150 | 171 | 471 |
| Ted Beach | 27 | 124 | 47 | 295 |
| Rod Fletcher | 27 | 115 | 60 | 290 |
| Clive Follmer | 27 | 88 | 64 | 240 |
| Bob Peterson | 27 | 85 | 67 | 237 |
| Irv Bemoras | 27 | 83 | 49 | 215 |
| Max Baumgardner | 23 | 29 | 11 | 69 |
| Jim Bredar | 20 | 15 | 4 | 34 |
| Mack Follmer | 12 | 9 | 3 | 21 |
| Herb Gerecke | 11 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| Dick Christiansen | 7 | 6 | 3 | 15 |
| John Marks | 8 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Jim Schuldt | 16 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Seymour Gantman | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Richard Ems | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Don Sunderlage
** Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award (1951)
** Helms 2nd team All-American (1951)
** Sporting News 2nd team All-American (1951)
** United Press International 3rd team All-American (1951)
** Converse 3rd team All-American (1951)
** Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American (1951)
** Team Most Valuable Player
* Ted Beach
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1951)
* Rod Fletcher
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1951)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Don Sunderlage | Philadelphia Warriors | 1 | 9 |
| Ted Beach | Indianapolis Olympians | 7 | 73 |