# 1957–58 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1957–58 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

Starting his second decade as the head coach of the University of Illinois' Fighting Illini basketball team, Harry Combes and his assistant coach and top recruiter, Howie Braun, were beginning to lose some of the top recruits from the state of Illinois. Talented players, such as Tom Hawkins, Charlie Brown, McKinley "Deacon" Davis, Nolden Gentry, John Tidwell and Charles "Chico" Vaughn were lured away to play for other programs during the late 1950s, a trend that would continue for Combes during his second decade.
The 1957-58 team returned several lettermen including the leading scorer Don Ohl and team "captain" John Paul. It also saw the return of Roger Taylor and Ted Caiazza. The team also added sophomores Govoner Vaughn, Mannie Jackson, Al Gosnell, Bruce Bunkenberg and Ed Perry. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 5 wins and 9 losses, finishing in 8th place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 11 wins and 11 losses. The starting lineup included Govoner Vaughn at the center position, Roger Taylor and Don Ohl at guard and Mannie Jackson and John Paul at the forward slots.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/2/1957* no, no | | Marquette | W 100–90 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (5,123) Champaign, IL |
| 12/7/1957* no, no | | DePaul | W 75–70 | 2-0 | Huff Hall (6,263) Champaign, IL |
| 12/11/1957* no, no | | Butler | W 91–75 | 3-0 | Huff Hall (5,809) Champaign, IL |
| 12/16/1957* no, no | | Colorado | W 64–46 | 4-0 | Huff Hall (6,789) Champaign, IL |
| 12/18/1957* no, no | | No. 14 Rice | W 85–82 | 5-0 | Huff Hall (6,847) Champaign, IL |
| 12/21/1957* no, no | | at Iowa State | L 60–68 | 5-1 | Iowa State Armory (-) Ames, IA |
| 12/28/1957* no, no | | Miami (OH) | W 93–75 | 6-1 | Huff Hall (3,902) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/4/1958 no, no | | at Wisconsin | W 64–59 | 7-1 (1-0) | Wisconsin Field House (4,000) Madison, WI |
| 1/6/1958 no, no | | Iowa Rivalry | L 68–70 | 7-2 (1-1) | Huff Hall (5,964) Champaign, IL |
| 1/11/1958 no, no | No. 17 | at Indiana Rivalry | L 82–89 | 7-3 (1-2) | The Fieldhouse (10,000) Bloomington, IN |
| 1/13/1958 no, no | No. 17 | Wisconsin | L 70–71 | 7-4 (1-3) | Huff Hall (6,107) Champaign, IL |
| 1/26/1958* no, no | | vs. Notre Dame | L 67–81 | 7-5 | Chicago Stadium (16,212) Chicago, IL |
| 2/1/1958 no, no | | Northwestern Rivalry | W 102–98 | 8-5 (2-3) | Huff Hall (4,656) Champaign, IL |
| 2/3/1958 no, no | | at Ohio State | L 70–78 | 8-6 (2-4) | St. John Arena (8,867) Columbus, OH |
| 2/8/1958 no, no | | at Michigan | L 81–88 | 8-7 (2-5) | Yost Field House (8,200) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/10/1958 no, no | | Purdue | W 99–84 | 9-7 (3-5) | Huff Hall (6,017) Champaign, IL |
| 2/15/1958 no, no | | at No. 19 Michigan State | L 64–70 | 9-8 (3-6) | Jenison Fieldhouse (7,033) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/17/1958 no, no | | Minnesota | W 94–87 | 10-8 (4-6) | Huff Hall (5,210) Champaign, IL |
| 2/22/1958 no, no | | at Iowa Rivalry | L 79–83 | 10-9 (4-7) | Iowa Field House (15,003) Iowa City, IA |
| 3/1/1958 no, no | | Michigan | W 88–75 | 11-9 (5-7) | Huff Hall (6,588) Champaign, IL |
| 3/3/1958 no, no | | Indiana Rivalry | L 86–96 | 11-10 (5-8) | Huff Hall (6,757) Champaign, IL |
| 3/8/1958 no, no | | at Northwestern Rivalry | L 72–88 | 11-11 (5-9) | McGaw Memorial Hall (8,629) 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 | Points |
| Don Ohl | 22 | 183 | 65 | 431 |
| Govoner Vaughn | 22 | 138 | 51 | 327 |
| John Paul | 21 | 106 | 85 | 297 |
| Roger Taylor | 20 | 97 | 68 | 262 |
| Mannie Jackson | 22 | 107 | 31 | 245 |
| Al Gosnell | 22 | 30 | 24 | 84 |
| Bruce Bunkenburg | 18 | 17 | 17 | 51 |
| Ed Perry | 19 | 7 | 8 | 22 |
| Lee Frandsen | 15 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| Lou Landt | 12 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Larry Breyfogle | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Tom Haller | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Don Ohl
** Converse 2nd Team All-American
** Helms 3rd Team All-American
** Team Most Valuable Player
* Govoner Vaughn
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Don Ohl | Philadelphia Warriors | 5 | 5 |