# 1935–36 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1935–36 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1935–36 season would turn out to be Craig Ruby's 14th and final year of coaching at the University of Illinois. It would also turn out to be Ruby's final head coaching job anywhere as he would leave to pursue a career with Hallmark Greeting Cards. Ruby's tenure at Illinois ranks 3rd behind Lou Henson (21 years) and Harry Combes (20 years). His 148 wins also ranks 5th behind Henson (423) Combes (316) and Bruce Weber (210) and Doug Mills (151). Along with future head coach Harry Combes, the Illini returned 10 lettermen from a team that had finished in first place in the Big Ten the year before. Unfortunately for the Illini, they lost 3 conference games at home and finished with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses. The team finished the season with an overall record of 13 wins 6 losses. The starting lineup included captain Howard Braun and Wilbur Henry at guard, Harry Combes, Harold Benham and James Vopicka at forward, with Robert Riegel at the center position.

### Roster
## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 12/7/1935* no, no | St. Louis | W 35–27 | 1–0 | Huff Hall (4,960) Champaign, IL |
| 12/11/1935* no, no | Wabash | W 40–22 | 2–0 | Huff Hall (4,804) Champaign, IL |
| 12/17/1935* no, no | DePauw | W 47–14 | 3–0 | Huff Hall (5,000) Champaign, IL |
| 12/20/1935* no, no | at DePaul | W 26–24 | 4–0 | Chicago Stadium (6,000) Chicago, IL |
| 12/28/1935* no, no | at Knox College | W 48–31 | 5–0 | Auxiliary Gymnasium (1,500) Galesburg, IL |
| 12/30/1935* no, no | California | W 42–17 | 6–0 | Huff Hall (3,000) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/4/1936 no, no | at Iowa Rivalry | L 26–27 | 6–1 (0–1) | Iowa Field House (–) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/6/1936 no, no | at Minnesota | W 42–19 | 7–1 (1–1) | Williams Arena (–) Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/11/1936 no, no | at Wisconsin | W 29–27 | 8–1 (2–1) | Wisconsin Field House (7,500) Madison, WI |
| 1/13/1936 no, no | Ohio State | L 13–18 | 8–2 (2–2) | Huff Hall (5,500) Champaign, IL |
| 1/18/1936 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | L 28–40 | 8–3 (2–3) | Huff Hall (4,500) Champaign, IL |
| 2/5/1936* no, no | at Notre Dame | L 23–33 | 8–4 | Notre Dame Fieldhouse (–) Notre Dame, IN |
| 2/10/1936 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | W 36–14 | 9–4 (3–3) | Huff Hall (4,000) Champaign, IL |
| 2/15/1936 no, no | Wisconsin | W 36–20 | 10–4 (4–3) | Huff Hall (4,500) Champaign, IL |
| 2/17/1936 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 39–38 | 11–4 (5–3) | Patten Gymnasium (–) Evanston, IL |
| 2/22/1936 no, no | Minnesota | W 35–33 | 12–4 (6–3) | Huff Hall (4,500) Champaign, IL |
| 2/24/1936 no, no | Michigan | L 37–42 | 12–5 (6–4) | Huff Hall (5,500) Champaign, IL |
| 2/29/1936 no, no | at Ohio State | W 30–20 | 13–5 (7–4) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (5,500) Columbus, OH |
| 3/2/1936 no, no | at Michigan | L 22–35 | 13–6 (7–5) | Yost Field House (–) Ann Arbor, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||
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