# 1934–35 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1934–35 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1934-35 season brought the fourth conference title at the University of Illinois as well as the second title in Craig Ruby's tenure. Ruby had previously won a title in his second season, 1923-24. A new star on the playing floor emerged during the 1934-35 season with the addition of Harry Combes to the roster. Combes, a three-year letterwinner, starred for the Illini from 1935–37 and later returned to his alma mater as head coach of the Illini in 1948. Combes helped lead Illinois to both its Big Ten titles in the 1930s. Along with future head coach Combes the Illini only returned 6 lettermen from a team that had finished in fourth place in the Big Ten the year before. Even though the Fighting Illini lost twice to Indiana, they improved in conference play by finishing with a record of 9 wins and 3 losses. The team finished the season with an overall record of 15 wins 5 losses with one of the losses coming as the result of playing two games on December 10, 1934. The starting lineup included captain Frank Froschauer and Roy Guttschow at forward, Harry Combes, Jack Benyon and Wilbur Henry at guard, with Lewis Dehner at the center position.

### Roster
## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 12/10/1934* no, no | DePaul | L 26–29 | 0-1 | Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 12/10/1934* no, no | Bradley | W 55–25 | 1-1 | Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 12/14/1934* no, no | Wabash College | W 30–27 | 2-1 | Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 12/21/1934* no, no | at Washington (St. Louis) | W 35–18 | 3-1 | Francis Gymnasium (3,000) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/22/1934* no, no | at St. Louis | W 33–22 | 4-1 | Kiel Auditorium (4,000) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/29/1934* no, no | at Butler | L 24–39 | 4-2 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (5,000) Indianapolis, IN |
| 1/1/1935* no, no | at Wabash College | W 35–28 | 5-2 | Chadwick Court (-) Crawfordsville, IN |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/5/1935 no, no | Indiana Rivalry | L 21–36 | 5-3 (0-1) | Huff Hall (5,000) Champaign, IL |
| 1/7/1935 no, no | Purdue | W 37–36 | 6-3 (1-1) | Huff Hall (8,000) Champaign, IL |
| 1/12/1935 no, no | at Ohio State | W 44–23 | 7-3 (2-1) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (5,500) Columbus, OH |
| 1/14/1935 no, no | at Indiana Rivalry | L 29–42 | 7-4 (2-2) | IU Fieldhouse (5,000) Bloomington, IN |
| 1/19/1935 no, no | Michigan | W 34–22 | 8-4 (3-2) | Huff Hall (7,000) Champaign, IL |
| 2/5/1935* no, no | Notre Dame | W 27–26 | 9-4 | Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 2/9/1935 no, no | at University of Chicago | W 43–36 | 10-4 (4-2) | Henry Crown Field House (2,500) Chicago, IL |
| 2/16/1935 no, no | at Purdue | L 27–35 | 10-5 (4-3) | Jefferson High School (5,000) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/18/1935 no, no | Ohio State | W 43–36 | 11-5 (5-3) | Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 2/23/1935 no, no | at Minnesota | W 38–34 | 12-5 (6-3) | Williams Arena (7,500) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/25/1935 no, no | University of Chicago | W 39–29 | 13-5 (7-3) | Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 3/2/1935 no, no | Minnesota | W 38–34 | 14-5 (8-3) | Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 1/19/1935 no, no | at Michigan | W 36–22 | 15-5 (9-3) | 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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