# 1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1961-62 Fighting Illini basketball team bounced back from a miserable season the year prior. Head coach Harry Combes non-conference season was nearly perfect with an 8-1 record. The only blemish for the University of Illinois was a home loss to Cornell. The most unusual thing about this season was the fact that the Illini played three neutral court games in Chicago. This would also be the final full season that the Fighting Illini would play their home games at Huff Hall.
The 1961-62 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Dave Downey. It also saw the return of team captain Jerry Colangelo, juniors Bill Burwell, Bill Small, Bob Starnes as well as senior Doug Mills. The Illini also added sophomore John Love to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing in a 4th place tie in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 15 wins and 8 losses. The starting lineup included Bill Burwell at the center position, Bill Small and Jerry Colangelo at guard and Dave Downey and Bob Starnes at the forward slots.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/1/1961* no, no | Butler | W 82-72 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (4,960) Champaign, IL |
| 12/9/1961* no, no | at Oklahoma | W 72–60 | 2-0 | McCasland Field House (3,000) Norman, OK |
| 12/12/1961* no, no | Creighton | W 70-61 | 3-0 | Huff Hall (6,017) Champaign, IL |
| 12/16/1961* 1:30 pm, no | Iowa State | W 82-73 | 4-0 | Huff Hall (6,437) Champaign, IL |
| 12/18/1961* no, no | Xavier | W 81-69 | 5-0 | Huff Hall (6,717) Champaign, IL |
| 12/23/1961* no, no | Cornell | L 60-72 | 5-1 | Huff Hall (5,258) Champaign, IL |
| 12/28/1961* no, no | vs. Manhattan | W 61-56 | 6-1 | Chicago Stadium (3,000) Chicago, IL |
| 12/30/1961* no, no | vs. Colgate | W 88-50 | 7-1 | Chicago Stadium (6,000) Chicago, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/6/1962 no, no | Michigan | W 91-71 | 8-1 (1-0) | Huff Hall (6,509) Champaign, IL |
| 1/8/1962 no, no | at Purdue | L 89-96 | 8-2 (1-1) | Lambert Fieldhouse (6,500) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/13/1962 no, no | at Michigan State | W 66-65 | 9-2 (2-1) | Jenison Fieldhouse (7,068) East Lansing, MI |
| 1/27/1962* no, no | vs. Notre Dame | W 85-77 | 10-2 | Chicago Stadium (12,224) Chicago, IL |
| 1/29/1962 no, no | Wisconsin | L 81-85 | 10-3 (2-2) | Huff Hall (6,740) Champaign, IL |
| 2/3/1962 no, no | Indiana Rivalry | W 96-85 | 11-3 (3-2) | Huff Hall (6,557) Champaign, IL |
| 2/5/1962 no, no | Minnesota | W 89-80 | 12-3 (4-2) | Huff Hall (5,927) Champaign, IL |
| 2/10/1962 no, no | at Iowa Rivalry | W 91-81 | 13-3 (5-2) | Iowa Field House (12,300) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/12/1962 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | W 88-70 | 14-3 (6-2) | Huff Hall (6,673) Champaign, IL |
| 2/17/1962 no, no | Purdue | L 88-100 | 14-4 (6-3) | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 2/19/1962 no, no | at Wisconsin | L 101-103 | 14-5 (6-4) | Wisconsin Field House (7,399) Madison, WI |
| 2/24/1962 no, no | at No. 1 Ohio State | L 79-102 | 14-6 (6-5) | St. John Arena (13,497) Columbus, OH |
| 3/3/1962 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | L 78-88 | 14-7 (6-6) | Huff Hall (6,669) Champaign, IL |
| 3/5/1962 no, no | at Indiana Rivalry | L 92-104 | 14-8 (6-7) | New Fieldhouse (5,000) Bloomington, IN |
| 3/10/1962 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 73–68 | 15-8 (7-7) | McGaw Memorial Hall (5,000) Evanston, IL |
| *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 | Rebounds | Points |
| Dave Downey | 22 | 174 | 97 | 269 | 445 |
| Bill Burwell | 23 | 151 | 124 | 266 | 426 |
| Bill Small | 23 | 133 | 70 | 90 | 336 |
| Jerry Colangelo | 23 | 111 | 73 | 95 | 295 |
| Bob Starnes | 23 | 81 | 58 | 147 | 220 |
| Doug Mills | 15 | 25 | 9 | 18 | 59 |
| John Love | 22 | 18 | 15 | 86 | 51 |
| Jay Lovelace | 13 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 |
| Jerry Curless | 10 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 14 |
| Bill Edwards | 14 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 11 |
| Jerry Renner | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| Sam Leeper | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Jeff Ferguson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Dave Downey
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American
** Team Most Valuable Player
* Bill Burwell
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| No Player Selected | | | |