# 1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

A new decade had begun for the Fighting Illini, a decade which brought much success to Illinois basketball. Head Coach Doug Mills led the Illini to consecutive Big Ten titles in 1942 and 1943. The Illini would add another league championship under Harry Combes in 1949. The Illini were the 13th-winningest Division I team in the nation in the 1940s. Illinois’ 150-57 record and .725 winning percentage was the best in the Big Ten. In 1941, Mills added to his coaching duties when he was named the school’s athletic director as well as continuing on as the head coach. Mills entered his fifth season with the Illini and, just as his teams had done the previous 4 seasons, had a nearly perfect record on the home court finishing with an 8-2 record. Unfortunately for the Illini they finished with a 5-5 record on the road to finish in a third place tie overall in conference action. Mills' team featured 8 returning letterman and had a starting lineup including team captain John Drish and Harold Shapiro at forward, Art Mathisen at the center position, and Victor Wukovits and Robert Richmond as guards. The team also featured future major league baseball player Walter Evers

### Roster
## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 12/6/1940* no, no | Georgia | W 38–34 | 1–0 | Huff Hall (4,822) Champaign, IL |
| 12/20/1940* no, no | Pittsburgh | L 41–43 | 1–1 | Huff Hall (4,926) Champaign, IL |
| 12/23/1940* no, no | at Notre Dame | W 41–39 | 2–1 | Notre Dame Fieldhouse (2,000) Notre Dame, IN |
| 12/26/1940* no, no | at Manhattan | W 56–40 | 3–1 | Madison Square Garden (12,237) New York, NY |
| 12/28/1940* no, no | at Temple | L 41–42 | 3–2 | Municipal Auditorium (7,247) Philadelphia, PA |
| 12/31/1940* no, no | at Marquette | W 40–32 | 4–2 | Marquette Gymnasium (5,800) Milwaukee, WI |
| 1/2/1941* no, no | Kansas State | W 45-29 | 5–2 | Huff Hall (5,829) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/6/1941 no, no | Purdue | W 49–34 | 6–2 (1–0) | Huff Hall (7,183) Champaign, IL |
| 1/11/1941 no, no | Indiana Rivalry | L 38–48 | 6–3 (1–1) | Huff Hall (6,946) Champaign, IL |
| 1/13/1941 no, no | Michigan | W 47–41 | 7–3 (2–1) | Huff Hall (5,619) Champaign, IL |
| 1/18/1941 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 42–41 | 8–3 (3–1) | Patten Gymnasium (2,400) Evanston, IL |
| 1/29/1941* no, no | Mexico | W 53–30 | 9-3 | Huff Hall (3,910) Champaign, IL |
| 2/3/1941 no, no | at Purdue | L 29–46 | 9–4 (3–2) | Lambert Fieldhouse (8,500) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/8/1941 no, no | Minnesota | L 38–50 | 9–5 (3–3) | Huff Hall (10,500) Champaign, IL |
| 2/10/1941 no, no | at University of Chicago | W 55–29 | 10–5 (4–3) | Henry Crown Field House (3,500) Chicago, IL |
| 2/15/1941 no, no | at Wisconsin | L 30-46 | 10–6 (4–4) | Wisconsin Field House (13,300) Madison, WI |
| 2/17/1941 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | W 56–53 | 11–6 (5–4) | Huff Hall (4,500) Champaign, IL |
| 2/22/1941 no, no | at Michigan | L 31–47 | 11–7 (5–5) | Yost Fieldhouse (6,250) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/24/1941 no, no | Ohio State | W 53–36 | 12–7 (6–5) | Huff Hall (4,480) Champaign, IL |
| 3/1/1941 no, no | University of Chicago | W 52–33 | 13–7 (7–5) | Huff Hall (4,518) Champaign, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||
Source

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Points |
| Arthur Mathisen | 20 | 65 | 48 | 178 |
| Robert Richmond | 20 | 47 | 47 | 141 |
| Walter Evers | 11 | 49 | 27 | 125 |
| John Drish | 20 | 39 | 16 | 94 |
| Victor Wukovits | 20 | 25 | 30 | 80 |
| Harold Shapiro | 18 | 32 | 9 | 73 |
| David Dillon | 9 | 18 | 5 | 41 |
| Henry Sachs | 10 | 16 | 5 | 37 |
| Alton Shirley | 16 | 11 | 6 | 28 |
| William Hocking | 17 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
| Robert O'Neill | 14 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| Stanley Wayne | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Dick Driggs | 8 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Keith Brown | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Ralph Hooker | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Richard Albaugh | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kenneth Brown | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Bob Richmond
** Team Most Valuable Player