# 1959–60 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1959–60 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

Entering his 13th year as University of Illinois' head coach, Harry Combes and his Fighting Illini basketball team. Started gaining on the national scene once again by beginning the Big Ten season as a top 10 ranked team. The Associated Press would eventually rank the Illini as high as number eight during the course of the season; however, the team would falter late in the season, dropping three straight games and fall out of the rankings. The final AP and UPI rankings would include only two Big Ten teams, Ohio State (ranked 3) and Indiana (ranked 7/10). Ohio State would go on and win the NCAA Tournament. For the second time in the history of the Illini, they would play in a mid-season tournament. The tournament they would compete in would be the inaugural Los Angeles Basketball Classic held at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena December 28–30.
The 1959-60 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Govoner Vaughn. It also saw the return of team "captain" Mannie Jackson as well as Ed Perry, Lou Landt, John Wessels, Lee Frandsen, Vern Altemeyer, Al Gosnell and Bruce Bunkenberg. Jerry Colangelo, a future sports mogul, also played a significant role as a sophomore. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 8 wins and 6 losses, finishing tied for 3rd place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 16 wins and 7 losses. The starting lineup included John Wessels at the center position, Vern Altemeyer, Lou Landt and Mannie Jackson at guard and Govoner Vaughn and Ed Perry at the forward slots.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/3/1959* no, no | | Butler | W 83–75 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (6,417) Champaign, IL |
| 12/12/1959* no, no | | Western Kentucky | W 93–80 | 2-0 | Huff Hall (6,553) Champaign, IL |
| 12/14/1959* no, no | | Marquette | W 89–77 | 3-0 | Huff Hall (6,512) Champaign, IL |
| 12/19/1959* no, no | | Ohio | W 85–79 | 4-0 | Huff Hall (4,356) Champaign, IL |
| 12/21/1959* no, no | | Oklahoma | W 60–57 | 5-0 | Huff Hall (5,034) Champaign, IL |
| 12/28/1959* no, no | No. 10 | vs. No. 3 California Los Angeles Basketball Classic | L 48–62 | 5-1 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (10,838) Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/29/1959* no, no | No. 8 | vs. Northwestern Los Angeles Basketball Classic / Rivalry | W 92–79 | 6-1 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (10,295) Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/30/1959* no, no | No. 8 | vs. Stanford Los Angeles Basketball Classic | W 74–62 | 7-1 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (923) Los Angeles, CA |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/4/1960 no, no | No. 8 | at No. 5 Ohio State | L 73–97 | 7-2 (0-1) | St. John Arena (13,263) Columbus, OH |
| 1/9/1960 no, no | No. 9 | Minnesota | W 90–82 | 8-2 (1-1) | Huff Hall (6,649) Champaign, IL |
| 1/11/1960 no, no | No. 9 | at Purdue | W 81–75 | 9-2 (2-1) | Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/16/1960 no, no | No. 14 | Michigan State | W 96–88 | 10-2 (3-1) | Huff Hall (6,815) Champaign, IL |
| 1/18/1960 no, no | No. 14 | at Minnesota | L 70–77 | 10-3 (3-2) | Williams Arena (12,729) Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/30/1960* no, no | | vs. Notre Dame | W 71–67 | 11-3 | Chicago Stadium (-) Chicago, IL |
| 2/6/1960 no, no | No. 19 | at Michigan | W 75-61 | 12-3 (4-2) | Yost Field House (2,000) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/8/1960 no, no | No. 19 | at Michigan State | L 77–78 | 12-4 (4-3) | Jenison Fieldhouse (6,325) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/13/1960 no, no | No. 20 | Purdue | W 93–89 $^{2OT}$ | 13-4 (5-3) | Huff Hall (6,631) Champaign, IL |
| 2/15/1960 no, no | No. 20 | No. 4 Ohio State | L 81–109 | 13-5 (5-4) | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 2/20/1960 no, no | No. 20 | at Wisconsin | L 63–75 | 13-6 (5-5) | Wisconsin Field House (7,885) Madison, WI |
| 2/22/1960 no, no | No. 20 | Indiana Rivalry | L 78–92 | 13-7 (5-6) | Huff Hall (6,864) Champaign, IL |
| 2/27/1960 no, no | No. 20 | Iowa Rivalry | W 85–70 | 14-7 (6-6) | Huff Hall (6,691) Champaign, IL |
| 2/29/1960 no, no | | at Michigan | W 90–61 | 15-7 (7-6) | Yost Field House (5,277) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 3/5/1960 no, no | | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 84–77 | 16-7 (8-6) | McGaw Memorial Hall (5,800) 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 |
| Govoner Vaughn | 23 | 164 | 83 | 189 | 411 |
| Mannie Jackson | 23 | 162 | 54 | 94 | 378 |
| Ed Perry | 23 | 74 | 64 | 141 | 212 |
| Lou Landt | 23 | 70 | 36 | 64 | 176 |
| John Wessels | 14 | 56 | 43 | 98 | 155 |
| Lee Frandsen | 20 | 41 | 32 | 37 | 114 |
| Vern Altemeyer | 23 | 44 | 25 | 94 | 113 |
| Al Gosnell | 23 | 36 | 24 | 95 | 96 |
| Bruce Bunkenburg | 18 | 22 | 20 | 42 | 64 |
| Jerry Colangelo | 19 | 25 | 10 | 16 | 60 |
| Ed Searcy | 17 | 20 | 6 | 57 | 46 |
| Bob Starnes | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Bob Schmidt | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Doug Mills | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Tom Adams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Curless | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Mohlenbrock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Govoner Vaughn
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American
** Team Most Valuable Player
* Mannie Jackson
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American

## Team players drafted into the NBA

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