# 2011–12 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2011–12 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Bruce Weber's ninth and final season at Illinois. The Illini played their home games at Assembly Hall and were members of the Big Ten Conference.

## Pre-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Mike Davis | 24 | F | 6'6" | 225 | Senior | Alexandria, VA | Graduated/Pro for BC Ferro-ZNTU (Ukraine) |
| Bill Cole | 30 | F | 6'9" | 215 | Senior | Peoria, IL | Graduated/Pro for Cheshire Jets (England) |
| Demetri McCamey | 32 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Senior | Bellwood, IL | Graduated/Pro for Mersin BB (Turkey) |
| Mike Tisdale | 54 | F | 7'1" | 235 | Senior | Riverton, IL | Graduated/Pro for DJK Würzburg (Germany) |

### 2011–12 incoming team members

Prior to the 2011–12 season, Illinois welcomed seven new players into the program. The 2011 recruiting class was ranked No. 13 by Scout.com and No. 11 by both Rivals.com and ESPNU. The class was celebrated for its talent and depth, and is the second class in a row that has revived top-15 national rankings. Six true freshman; Tracy Abrams, Myke Henry, Devin Langford, Nnanna Egwu, Mike Shaw, and Ibby Djimde as well as one transfer senior, Sam Maniscalco joined the 2011–12 team. Maniscalso transferred from Bradley University after graduating in May 2011. Because Bradley did not offer the graduate program he enrolled in at Illinois, Maniscalco was eligible to play immediately.

### 2011 Recruiting Class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tracy Abrams PG | Chicago, IL | Mount Carmel | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Dec 18, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Ibby Djimde C | Huntington, WV | Huntington Prep | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | May 8, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 87 ||||||
| Nnanna Egwu C | Chicago, IL | St. Ignatius | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Oct 9, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Myke Henry SF | Chicago, IL | Orr Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | May 10, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Devin Langford SF | Huntsville, AL | Lee High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Dec 16, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 91 ||||||
| Sam Maniscalco G | Chicago, IL | St. Patrick / Bradley | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Apr 13, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Mike Shaw PF | Chicago, IL | De La Salle Institute | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 28, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 13 Rivals: 11 247Sports: 11 ESPN: 11 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Illinois Commit List for 2011". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011. "ESPN - Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Recruiting 2011". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011. "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011. "2011–12 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". 247sports.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011. ||||||

### Italy Trip

Prior to the start of fall semester classes, the team embarked on a 10-day international tour of Italy in August, 2011. With stops in Rome, Florence, Venice, and Como the trip was a combination of basketball, sightseeing, and team-building. The team played four full games, which included wins over Roma Select, Castellanza Select, and Fulgor Omegna as well as an overtime loss to the New Zealand National team Also, the Illini traveled to Aviano Air Base, where Illinois played West Virginia in a 20-minute scrimmage and the Aviano varsity team in a 10-minute scrimmage.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Italy Trip |||||||||
| August 13, 2011* 12:30 a.m. | | at Roma Selezione | W 78-68 | 1-0 | 14 – Bertrand | 8 – Griffey | 5 – Bertrand | - (100) Rome, Italy |
| August 16, 2011* 11:00 a.m. | | vs. New Zealand National Team | L 84-85 $^{OT}$ | 1-1 | 18 – Paul | 5 – Tied | 3 – Paul | - (250) Forli, Italy |
| August 17, 2011* 12:00 p.m. | | vs. West Virginia | W 47-26 | 2-1 | 11 – Richardson | 3 – Bertrand | 4 – Maniscalco | Aviano Air Base (500) Aviano, Italy |
| August 18, 2011* 2:00 p.m. | | at Castellanza Select | W 131-65 | 3-1 | 18 – Bertrand | 8 – Shaw | 6 – Paul | - (400) Castellanza, Italy |
| August 19, 2011* 11:00 a.m. | | vs. Fulgor Omegna | W 89-85 $^{OT}$ | 4-1 | 19 – Paul | 10 – Griffey | 3 – Ricardson | - (500) Verbania, Italy |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1* 7:30pm | | Wayne State (NE) | W 79–52 | – | 18 – Leonard | 8 – Shaw | 5 – Abrams | Assembly Hall (13,164) Champaign, IL |
| November 7* 7:30pm | | Quincy | W 73–45 | – | 17 – Richardson | 9 – Shaw | 3 – Paul, Bertrand | Assembly Hall (13,077) Champaign, IL |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||||||
| November 11* 8:00pm | | Loyola Chicago | W 67–49 | 1–0 | 15 – Leonard | 7 – Abrams | 3 – Maniscalco, Paul | Assembly Hall (15,937) Champaign, IL |
| November 14* 7:30pm | | SIU Edwardsville Cancún Challenge | W 66–46 | 2–0 | 20 – Richardson | 14 – Griffey | 4 – Paul | Assembly Hall (13,404) Champaign, IL |
| November 17* 8:00pm, BTN | | Lipscomb Cancun Challenge | W 79–64 | 3–0 | 17 – Richardson | 8 – Bertrand | 3 – Maniscalco, Paul | Assembly Hall (13,503) Champaign, IL |
| November 22* 8:30pm, CBSSN | | vs. Richmond Cancun Challenge | W 70–61 | 4–0 | 22 – Leonard | 12 – Leonard | 3 – Maniscalco | Moon Palace Resort (980) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 23* 8:30pm, CBSSN | | vs. Illinois State Cancun Challenge | W 63–59 | 5–0 | 14 – Maniscalco | 8 – Leonard | 6 – Paul | Moon Palace Resort (952) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 27* 12:00pm, BTN | | Chicago State | W 90–43 | 6–0 | 14 – Henry | 6 – Shaw | 5 – Abrams, Richardson | Assembly Hall (14,065) Champaign, IL |
| November 29* 6:30pm, ESPN | | at Maryland ACC – Big Ten Challenge | W 71–62 | 7–0 | 24 – Maniscalco | 7 – Paul | 4 – Abrams | Comcast Center (13,187) College Park, MD |
| December 3* 2:15pm, ESPN2 | | No. 19 Gonzaga | W 82–75 | 8–0 | 21 – Leonard | 5 – Maniscalco, Leonard | 5 – Maniscalco, Paul | Assembly Hall (15,879) Champaign, IL |
| December 7* 8:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 24 | St. Bonaventure | W 48–43 | 9–0 | 17 – Paul | 8 – Leonard | 5 – Paul | Assembly Hall (14,711) Champaign, IL |
| December 11* 7:00pm, ESPNU | No. 24 | Coppin State | W 80–63 | 10–0 | 20 – Richardson | 11 – Leonard | 5 – Maniscalco | Assembly Hall (14,811) Champaign, IL |
| December 17* 4:00pm, BTN | No. 19 | vs. UNLV | L 48–64 | 10–1 | 19 – Richardson | 8 – Richardson | 3 – Leonard | United Center (15,144) Chicago, IL |
| December 19* 7:00pm, ESPN3 | No. 25 | Cornell | W 64–60 | 11–1 | 19 – Leonard | 16 – Leonard | 6 – Maniscalco | Assembly Hall (13,578) Champaign, IL |
| December 22* 8:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 25 | vs. No. 10 Missouri Braggin' Rights | L 74–78 | 11–2 | 19 – Paul | 13 – Leonard | 5 – Leonard | Scottrade Center (22,087) St. Louis, MO |
| Big Ten regular season |||||||||
| December 27 6:30pm, BTN | | Minnesota | W 81–72 $^{2OT}$ | 12–2 (1–0) | 21 – Paul | 11 – Leonard | 6 – Paul | Assembly Hall (15,549) Champaign, IL |
| December 31 3:00pm, ESPN2 | | at Purdue | L 60–75 | 12–3 (1–1) | 17 – Paul | 6 – Leonard, Richardson | 4 – Abrams | Mackey Arena (14,041) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 4 6:00pm, BTN | | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 57–56 | 13–3 (2–1) | 12 – Leonard | 8 – Leonard, Bertrand | 4 – Paul, Richardson | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| January 7 12:00pm, BTN | | Nebraska | W 59–54 | 14–3 (3–1) | 25 – Bertrand | 6 – Paul | 3 – Paul | Assembly Hall (14,909) Champaign, IL |
| January 10 8:00pm, ESPN | | No. 5 Ohio State | W 79–74 | 15–3 (4–1) | 43 – Paul | 8 – Paul | 4 – Richardson | Assembly Hall (14,636) Champaign, IL |
| January 19 8:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 22 | at Penn State | L 52–54 | 15–4 (4–2) | 20 – Paul | 6 – Bertrand, Paul | 5 – Richardson | Bryce Jordan Center (6,945) University Pak, PA |
| January 22 1:00pm, BTN | No. 22 | Wisconsin | L 63–67 | 15–5 (4–3) | 16 – Leonard | 11 – Leonard | 5 – Bertrand | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| January 28 7:00pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 72–77 $^{OT}$ | 15–6 (4–4) | 28 – Paul | 13 – Leonard | 4 – Abrams | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| January 31 6:00pm, ESPN | | No. 10 Michigan State | W 42–41 | 16–6 (5–4) | 18 – Paul | 9 – Paul | 5 – Paul | Assembly Hall (15,629) Champaign, IL |
| February 5 2:00pm, BTN | | Northwestern Rivalry | L 70–74 | 16–7 (5–5) | 22 – Paul | 9 – Leonard | 8 – Abrams | Assembly Hall (15,461) Champaign, IL |
| February 9 7:00pm, BTN | | at No. 23 Indiana Rivalry | L 71–84 | 16–8 (5–6) | 19 – Richardson | 3 – Leonard, Paul, Richardson, Bertrand | 5 – Paul | Assembly Hall (17,389) Bloomington, IN |
| February 12 12:00pm, CBS | | at No. 22 Michigan | L 61–70 | 16–9 (5–7) | 21 – Paul | 12 – Leonard | 3 – Paul, Abrams | Crisler Arena (12,721) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 15 7:30pm, BTN | | Purdue | L 62–67 | 16–10 (5–8) | 22 – Abrams | 12 – Leonard | 5 – Bertrand | Assembly Hall (14,339) Champaign, IL |
| February 18 4:00pm, BTN | | at Nebraska | L 57–80 | 16–11 (5–9) | 15 – Richardson | 5 – Leonard, Richardson, Egwu | 5 – Bertrand | Bob Devaney Sports Center (10,558) Lincoln, NE |
| February 21 6:00pm, ESPN | | at No. 8 Ohio State | L 67–83 | 16–12 (5–10) | 21 – Leonard | 6 – Richardson | 3 – Paul | Value City Arena (18,481) Columbus, OH |
| February 26 5:00pm, BTN | | Iowa Rivalry | W 65–54 | 17–12 (6–10) | 22 – Leonard | 14 – Leonard | 4 – Maniscalco | Assembly Hall (16,322) Champaign, IL |
| March 1 6:00pm, ESPN | | No. 13 Michigan | L 61–72 | 17–13 (6–11) | 18 – Leonard | 9 – Leonard | 3 – Bertrand | Assembly Hall (15,244) Champaign, IL |
| March 4 12:00pm, BTN | | at No. 14 Wisconsin | L 56–70 | 17–14 (6–12) | 22 – Paul | 12 – Leonard | 2 – Paul | Kohl Center (17,230) Madison, WI |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 8 10:30am, BTN | (9) | vs. (8) Iowa First Round | L 61–64 | 17–15 | 18 – Leonard | 6 – Leonard, Richardson, Griffey | 4 – Paul, Abrams | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (–) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||

## National rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | No Change |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| T | Tied |

## Season Statistics

Individual player statistics :
| | | | Minutes | Minutes | Scoring | Scoring | Total FGs | Total FGs | Total FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | Free-throws | Free-throws | Free-throws | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | | | | |
| Player | GP | GS | Tot | Avg | Pts | Avg | FG | FGA | Pct | 3FG | 3FA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Avg | A | TO | Blk | Stl |
| Paul, Brandon | 32 | 30 | 1070 | 33.4 | 469 | 14.7 | 145 | 370 | .392 | 54 | 162 | .333 | 125 | 172 | .727 | 30 | 121 | 151 | 4.7 | 94 | 109 | 27 | 46 |
| Leonard, Meyers | 32 | 30 | 1018 | 31.8 | 434 | 13.6 | 170 | 291 | .584 | 1 | 11 | .091 | 93 | 127 | .732 | 73 | 189 | 262 | 8.2 | 43 | 68 | 60 | 15 |
| Richardson, D.J. | 32 | 31 | 1106 | 34.6 | 372 | 11.6 | 130 | 336 | .387 | 71 | 204 | .348 | 41 | 53 | .774 | 28 | 68 | 96 | 3 | 55 | 44 | 5 | 27 |
| Bertrand, Joseph | 32 | 14 | 644 | 20.1 | 209 | 6.5 | 92 | 171 | .538 | 3 | 10 | .300 | 22 | 30 | .733 | 23 | 63 | 86 | 2.7 | 43 | 37 | 5 | 11 |
| Maniscalco, Sam | 28 | 13 | 677 | 24.2 | 171 | 6.1 | 56 | 151 | .371 | 27 | 96 | .281 | 32 | 39 | .821 | 7 | 46 | 53 | 1.9 | 64 | 27 | 0 | 15 |
| Griffey, Tyler | 30 | 20 | 496 | 16.5 | 146 | 4.9 | 59 | 137 | .431 | 16 | 56 | .286 | 12 | 16 | .750 | 44 | 56 | 100 | 3.3 | 18 | 26 | 11 | 13 |
| Abrams, Tracy | 32 | 19 | 674 | 21.1 | 136 | 4.3 | 49 | 120 | .408 | 9 | 35 | .257 | 29 | 46 | .630 | 22 | 50 | 72 | 2.3 | 60 | 50 | 0 | 14 |
| Henry, Myke | 22 | 0 | 179 | 8.1 | 70 | 3.2 | 28 | 62 | .452 | 4 | 25 | .160 | 10 | 15 | .667 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 1.1 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 7 |
| Egwu, Nnanna | 32 | 3 | 313 | 9.8 | 60 | 1.9 | 27 | 57 | .474 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 6 | 13 | .462 | 21 | 27 | 48 | 1.5 | 6 | 22 | 20 | 6 |
| Head, Crandall | 9 | 0 | 83 | 9.2 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 17 | .235 | 0 | 5 | .000 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.6 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| Shaw, Mike | 20 | 0 | 139 | 7 | 17 | 0.9 | 6 | 21 | .286 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 4 | 10 | .400 | 11 | 26 | 37 | 1.9 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 2 |
| Djimde, Ibby | 17 | 0 | 61 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.3 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 7 | .429 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 0.8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Selus, Jean | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Berardini, Kevin | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 47 | 48 | 95 | | | 10 | | |
| Total | 32 | | 6475 | | 2098 | 65.6 | 767 | 1741 | .441 | 186 | 611 | .304 | 378 | 529 | .715 | 320 | 725 | 1045 | 32.7 | 400 | 430 | 132 | 162 |
| Opponents | 32 | | 6476 | | 2055 | 64.2 | 712 | 1659 | .429 | 208 | 549 | .379 | 423 | 601 | .704 | 298 | 704 | 1002 | 31.3 | 379 | 425 | 78 | 200 |