# 2008–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Bruce Weber's sixth season at Illinois.

## 2008 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Stan Simpson C | Chicago, IL | Simeon Career Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 15, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Dominique Keller PF | Port Arthur, TX | Lee College | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Mar 10, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: Not Ranked Rivals: Not Ranked ||||||
| 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 2008". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 21, 2009. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved March 21, 2009. "ESPN – Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Recruiting 2008". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 21, 2009. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved March 21, 2009. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 21, 2009. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/31/08* 5:30 pm | | Florida Southern | W 82–61 | | Assembly Hall (13,370) Champaign, IL |
| 11/6/08* 7:00 pm | | Lewis | W 62–56 | | Assembly Hall (13,814) Champaign, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/14/08* 8:30pm, Big Ten Network.com | | Eastern Washington | W 66–50 | 1–0 | Assembly Hall (14,442) Champaign, IL |
| 11/16/08* 4:30pm, Big Ten Network.com | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 72–53 | 2–0 | Assembly Hall (14,394) Champaign, IL |
| 11/20/08* 7:00pm, FSN | | at Vanderbilt | W 69–63 | 3–0 | Memorial Gymnasium (12,630) Nashville, TN |
| 11/23/08* 3:00pm, BTN | | Jackson State | W 78–64 | 4–0 | Assembly Hall (13,865) Champaign, IL |
| 11/28/08* 5:00pm, Fox College Sports | | vs. Kent State South Padre Island Invitational | W 69–63 $^{OT}$ | 5–0 | South Padre Island, TX (1,423) |
| 11/29/08* 7:30pm, Fox College Sports | | vs. Tulsa South Padre Island Invitational | W 48–44 | 6–0 | South Padre Island, TX (1,712) |
| 12/02/08* 6:30pm, ESPN2 | | Clemson ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 74–76 | 6–1 | Assembly Hall (14,741) Champaign, IL |
| 12/06/08* 11:00am, ESPNU | | vs. Georgia | W 76–42 | 7–1 | United Center (12,139) Chicago, IL |
| 12/08/08* 7:00pm, BTN | | Hawaii | W 68–58 | 8–1 | Assembly Hall (14,303) Champaign, IL |
| 12/10/08* 7:00pm, BTN | | Chicago State | W 89–50 | 9–1 | Assembly Hall (14,101) Champaign, IL |
| 12/20/08* 7:00pm, BTN | | Detroit | W 82–51 | 10–1 | Assembly Hall (14,594) Champaign, IL |
| 12/23/08* 6:30pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 25 Missouri Braggin' Rights | W 75–59 | 11–1 | Scottrade Center (19,586) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/28/08* 1:00pm, BTN | | Eastern Michigan | W 62–53 | 12–1 | Assembly Hall (16,288) Champaign, IL |
| Conference Regular Season ||||||
| 12/30/08 6:00pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 9 Purdue | W 71–67 $^{OT}$ | 13–1 (1–0) | Mackey Arena (14,036) West Lafayette, IN |
| 01/04/09 11:00am, BTN | | at No. 23 Michigan | L 64–74 | 13–2 (1–1) | Crisler Arena (12,912) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 01/10/09 2:00pm, BTN | | Indiana Rivalry | W 76–45 | 14–2 (2–1) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| 01/14/09 7:30pm, BTN | | No. 25 Michigan | W 66–51 | 15–2 (3–1) | Assembly Hall (15,535) Champaign, IL |
| 01/17/09 3:00pm, ESPN | | at No. 7 Michigan State | L 57–63 | 15–3 (3–2) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/20/09 6:00pm, ESPN | No. 25 | Ohio State | W 67–49 | 16–3 (4–2)) | Assembly Hall (15,549) Champaign, IL |
| 01/24/09 3:00pm, ESPN | No. 25 | Wisconsin | W 64–57 | 17–3 (5–2) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| 01/29/09 8:00pm, BTN | No. 19 | at Minnesota | L 36–59 | 17–4 (5–3) | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| 02/01/09 1:00pm, BTN | No. 19 | Iowa Rivalry | W 62–54 | 18–4 (6–3) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| 02/05/09 8:00pm, ESPN | No. 23 | at Wisconsin | L 50–63 | 18–5 (6–4) | Kohl Center (17,230) Madison, WI |
| 02/08/09 12:00pm, CBS | No. 23 | No. 12 Purdue | W 66–48 | 19–5 (7–4) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| 02/12/09 8:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 22 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 60–59 | 20–5 (8–4) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| 02/15/09 12:00pm, CBS | No. 22 | at Indiana Rivalry | W 65–52 | 21–5 (9–4) | Assembly Hall (17,346) Bloomington, IN |
| 02/18/09 6:00pm, BTN | No. 18 | Penn State | L 33–38 | 21–6 (9–5) | Assembly Hall (16,200) Champaign, IL |
| 02/22/09 12:00 pm, CBS | No. 18 | at Ohio State | W 70–68 | 22–6 (10–5) | Value City Arena (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| 02/26/09 6:00pm, BTN | No. 20 | Minnesota | W 52–41 | 23–6 (11–5) | Assembly Hall (16,395) Champaign, IL |
| 03/01/09 4:00pm, CBS | No. 20 | No. 9 Michigan State | L 66–74 | 23–7 (11–6) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| 03/05/09 9:00pm, ESPN/ESPN2 | No. 23 | at Penn State | L 63–64 | 23–8 (11–7) | Bryce Jordan Center (13,091) University Park, PA |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| 03/13/09 6:30pm, BTN | (2) | vs. (7) Michigan Quarterfinals | W 60–50 | 24–8 | Conseco Fieldhouse (14,647) Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/14/09 4:30pm, CBS | (2) | vs. (3) No. 24 Purdue Semifinals | L 56–66 | 24–9 | Conseco Fieldhouse (15,728) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| 03/19/09 9:30pm, CBS | (5 S) | vs. (12 S) Western Kentucky First Round | L 72–76 | 24–10 | Rose Garden (17,169) Portland, OR |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | | | | | | | | | | | 25 | 19 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 20 | 23 | — | | Not released |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | 25 т | 20 | 21 | 20 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 25 | — | |

## 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 |
| McCamey, Demetri | 34 | 32 | 1040 | 30.6 | 391 | 11.5 | 140 | 341 | .411 | 56 | 179 | .313 | 55 | 72 | .764 | 11 | 79 | 90 | 2.6 | 156 | 83 | 7 | 32 |
| Davis, Mike | 34 | 34 | 1045 | 30.7 | 383 | 11.3 | 171 | 321 | .533 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 41 | 60 | .683 | 60 | 215 | 275 | 8.1 | 67 | 51 | 22 | 23 |
| Tisdale, Mike | 34 | 34 | 841 | 24.7 | 346 | 10.2 | 147 | 277 | .531 | 1 | 5 | .200 | 51 | 64 | .797 | 44 | 91 | 135 | 4.0 | 19 | 47 | 48 | 11 |
| Meacham, Trent | 34 | 34 | 1046 | 30.8 | 346 | 10.2 | 114 | 270 | .422 | 69 | 164 | .421 | 49 | 58 | .845 | 8 | 76 | 84 | 2.5 | 92 | 36 | 4 | 31 |
| Keller, Dominique | 34 | 0 | 428 | 12.6 | 202 | 5.9 | 86 | 165 | .521 | 9 | 22 | .409 | 21 | 32 | .656 | 29 | 50 | 79 | 2.3 | 7 | 30 | 18 | 10 |
| Frazier, Chester | 31 | 31 | 1029 | 33.2 | 178 | 5.7 | 60 | 134 | .448 | 26 | 68 | .382 | 32 | 48 | .667 | 41 | 107 | 148 | 4.8 | 164 | 68 | 9 | 43 |
| Brock, Calvin | 34 | 5 | 593 | 17.4 | 180 | 5.3 | 73 | 164 | .445 | 7 | 23 | .304 | 27 | 43 | .628 | 43 | 66 | 109 | 3.2 | 31 | 37 | 6 | 24 |
| Legion, Alex | 22 | 0 | 244 | 11.1 | 77 | 3.5 | 28 | 97 | .289 | 12 | 50 | .240 | 9 | 12 | .750 | 9 | 23 | 32 | 1.5 | 11 | 18 | 1 | 8 |
| Cole, Bill | 17 | 0 | 76 | 4.5 | 27 | 1.6 | 9 | 25 | .360 | 6 | 16 | .375 | 3 | 9 | .333 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0.8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Semrau, Richard | 21 | 0 | 190 | 9.0 | 29 | 1.4 | 13 | 28 | .464 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 7 | .429 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 1.5 | 6 | 15 | 2 | 5 |
| Jordan, Jeff | 33 | 0 | 278 | 8.4 | 32 | 1.0 | 14 | 32 | .438 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 3 | 8 | .375 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0.4 | 33 | 13 | 1 | 6 |
| Jackson, C.J. | 13 | 0 | 22 | 1.7 | 9 | 0.7 | 3 | 3 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| Chisholm, Bubba | 14 | 0 | 18 | 1.3 | 4 | 0.3 | 1 | 8 | .125 | 1 | 7 | .143 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Team | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 53 | 58 | 111 | | | 14 | | |
| Total | 34 | | 6850 | | 2204 | 64.8 | 859 | 1865 | .461 | 188 | 537 | .350 | 298 | 419 | .711 | 320 | 807 | 1127 | 33.1 | 595 | 420 | 122 | 199 |
| Opponents | 34 | | 6851 | | 1944 | 57.2 | 730 | 1847 | .395 | 173 | 584 | .296 | 311 | 493 | .631 | 392 | 739 | 1131 | 33.3 | 396 | 467 | 80 | 196 |