# 1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1948-49 squad, led by Dike Eddleman, Bill Erickson, and Walter Osterkorn, was Illinois’ first 20-game winner since 1908, finishing 21-4. Illinois beat Yale, 71-67, to advance to a national semifinal showdown with Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Illini fell to the Wildcats, 76-47, forcing Illinois to defeat Oregon State, 57-53, in Seattle for third place.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/3/1948* no, no | | Butler | W 67–62 | 1–0 | Huff Hall (–) Champaign, IL |
| 12/8/1948* no, no | | at Notre Dame | W 59–58 $^{OT}$ | 2–0 | Notre Dame Fieldhouse (–) Notre Dame, IN |
| 12/11/1948* no, no | | vs. DePaul | L 50–60 | 2–1 | Chicago Stadium (17,189) Chicago, IL |
| 12/13/1948* no, no | | Oklahoma | W 73–68 | 3–1 | Huff Hall (6,902) Champaign, IL |
| 12/18/1948* no, no | | Pennsylvania | W 80–61 | 4–1 | Huff Hall (3,943) Champaign, IL |
| 12/20/1948* no, no | | DePaul | W 89–51 | 5–1 | Huff Hall (6,013) Champaign, IL |
| 12/21/1948* no, no | | Cornell | W 71–47 | 6–1 | Huff Hall (3,042) Champaign, IL |
| 12/29/1948* no, no | | Colgate | W 77–54 | 7–1 | Huff Hall (4,541) Champaign, IL |
| 12/30/1948* no, no | | Colgate | W 85–55 | 8–1 | Huff Hall (3,880) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/3/1949 no, no | | Wisconsin | W 62–50 | 9–1 (1–0) | Huff Hall (–) Champaign, IL |
| 1/8/1949 no, no | | at Indiana Rivalry | W 44–42 $^{2OT}$ | 10–1 (2–0) | The Field House (10,000) Bloomington, IN |
| 1/10/1949 no, no | | at Ohio State | W 64–63 | 11–1 (3–0) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (6,958) Columbus, OH |
| 1/15/1949* no, no | | Creighton | W 96–30 | 12–1 | Huff Hall (6,958) Champaign, IL |
| 1/29/1949 no, no | No. 7 | No. 4 Minnesota | W 45–44 | 13–1 (4–0) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 1/31/1949 no, no | No. 6 | at Purdue | L 53–55 | 13–2 (4–1) | Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/5/1949 no, no | No. 4 | at Wisconsin | W 61–54 | 14–2 (5–1) | Wisconsin Field House (13,500) Madison, WI |
| 2/7/1949 no, no | No. 4 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 85–66 | 15–2 (6–1) | Huff Hall (12,088) Champaign, IL |
| 2/12/1949 no, no | No. 4 | No. 18 Ohio State | W 64–49 | 16–2 (7–1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/21/1949 no, no | No. 4 | Iowa Rivalry | W 80–49 | 17–2 (8–1) | Huff Hall (–) Champaign, IL |
| 2/26/1949 no, no | No. 4 | vs. Northwestern Rivalry | W 81–64 | 18–2 (9–1) | Chicago Stadium (17,905) Chicago, IL |
| 2/28/1949 no, no | No. 4 | Indiana Rivalry | W 91–28 | 19–2 (10–1) | Huff Hall (–) Champaign, IL |
| 3/7/1949 no, no | No. 4 | at Michigan | L 53–70 | 19–3 (10–2) | Yost Field House (–) Ann Arbor, MI |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/21/1949* no, no | No. 4 | vs. Yale NCAA tournament | W 71–67 | 20–3 | Madison Square Garden (18,051) New York, NY |
| 3/22/1949* no, no | No. 4 | vs. No. 1 Kentucky NCAA Tournament Final Four | L 47–76 | 20–4 | Madison Square Garden (15,126) New York, NY |
| 3/26/1949* no, no | No. 4 | vs. Oregon State NCAA Tournament 3rd place game | W 57–53 | 21–4 | Hec Edmundson Pavilion (–) Seattle, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## NCAA basketball tournament

* Eastern
** Illinois 71, Yale 67
* Final Four
** Kentucky 76, Illinois 47
* Third-place game
** Illinois 57, Oregon State 53

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Points |
| Dwight Eddleman | 25 | 130 | 69 | 329 |
| Wally Osterkorn | 25 | 90 | 81 | 261 |
| Bill Erickson | 25 | 91 | 79 | 261 |
| Fred Green | 25 | 65 | 24 | 154 |
| Don Sunderlage | 25 | 57 | 39 | 153 |
| Jim Marks | 20 | 53 | 27 | 133 |
| Walt Kersulis | 20 | 43 | 23 | 109 |
| Burdette Thurlby | 17 | 36 | 21 | 93 |
| Van Anderson | 23 | 32 | 8 | 72 |
| Dick Foley | 24 | 24 | 11 | 59 |
| Ted Beach | 14 | 13 | 8 | 34 |
| Roy Gatewood | 9 | 9 | 4 | 22 |
| Richard Brogren | 6 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| Glen Trugillo | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Benton Odum | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Jim Cottrell | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Bill Boyer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Dwight Eddleman
** Converse 1st team All-American (1949)
** Associated Press 2nd team All-American (1949)
** United Press International 2nd team All-American (1949)
** Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award (1949)
** Big Ten Player of the Year (1949)
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
** Team Most Valuable Player
* Bill Erickson
** Consensus 2nd team All-American (1949)
** Helms 1st team All-American (1949)
** Collier's Weekly 1st team All-American (1949)
** National Association of Basketball Coaches 1st team All-American (1949)
** United Press International 3rd team All-American (1949)
** Sporting News 3rd team All-American (1949)
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1949)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 3 | N/A | Dike Eddleman | Chicago Stags |