# 1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1987–88 season brought Lou Henson his 500th career victory and laid the foundation for what would be an incredible history making season in 1988–1989.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 11/27/1987* no, no | | vs. Baylor Maui Invitational | W 73-50 | 1-0 | Lahaina Civic Center (1,200) Maui, HI |
| 11/28/1987* no, no | | vs. Villanova Maui Invitational | L 76-78 | 1-1 | Lahaina Civic Center (1,200) Maui, HI |
| 11/29/1987* no, no | | vs. No. 7 Kansas Maui Invitational | W 81-75 | 2-1 | Lahaina Civic Center (1,000) Maui, HI |
| 12/2/1987* no, no | | Chicago State | W 86-57 | 3-1 | Assembly Hall (13,486) Champaign, IL |
| 12/5/1987* no, no | | Mississippi Valley State | W 111-73 | 4-1 | Assembly Hall (14,354) Champaign |
| 12/8/1987* no, no | | Austin Peay | W 100-62 | 5-1 | Assembly Hall (14,519) Champaign |
| 12/11/1987* no, no | | Illinois-Chicago Illini Classic | W 109-53 | 6-1 | Assembly Hall (13,653) Champaign, IL |
| 12/12/1987* no, no | | Auburn Illini Classic | W 107-103 $^{ot}$ | 7-1 | Assembly Hall (14,847) Champaign, IL |
| 12/19/1987* no, no | | North Carolina | L 74-85 | 7-2 | Assembly Hall (16,712) Champaign, IL |
| 12/22/1987* no, no | | vs. No. 17 Missouri Braggin' Rights | W 75-63 | 8-2 | St. Louis Arena (18,224) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/30/1987* no, no | | at Colorado | W 86-68 | 9-2 | Coors Events Center (8,241) Denver, CO |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/4/1988 no, no | | No. 11 Purdue | L 68-81 | 9-3 (0-1) | Assembly Hall (16,654) Champaign, IL |
| 1/7/1988 no, no | No. 19 | at Minnesota | W 65-61 $^{ot}$ | 10-3 (1-1) | Williams Arena (10,988) Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/9/1988 no, no | No. 19 | Michigan State | W 77-62 | 11-3 (2-1) | Assembly Hall (16,616) Champaign, IL |
| 1/16/1988 no, no | No. 20 | at Wisconsin | W 80-65 | 12-3 (3-1) | Wisconsin Field House (11,068) Madison, WI |
| 1/17/1988* no, no | No. 20 | Tennessee | W 103-79 | 13-3 | Assembly Hall (15,386) Champaign, IL |
| 1/21/1988 no, no | No. 13 | at No. 19 Iowa Rivalry | L 79-93 | 13-4 (3-2) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/23/1988 no, no | No. 13 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 79-48 | 14-4 (4-2) | Assembly Hall (14,606) Champaign, IL |
| 3/4/1987 no, no | No. 13 | at No. 8 Michigan | L 64-76 | 14-5 (4-3) | Crisler Arena (13,609) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 1/30/1988* no, no | No. 13 | at No. 1 Arizona | L 70-78 | 14-6 | McKale Center (13,227) Tucson, AZ |
| 2/4/1988 no, no | No. 17 | at Ohio State | L 60-64 | 14-7 (4-4) | St. John Arena (13,320) Columbus, OH |
| 2/6/1988 no, no | No. 17 | No. 3 Indiana Rivalry | L 74-75 | 14-8 (4-5) | Assembly Hall (16,671) Champaign, IL |
| 2/11/1988 no, no | | Minnesota | W 86-50 | 15-8 (5-5) | Assembly Hall (14,313) Champaign, IL |
| 2/13/1988 no, no | | at Michigan State | W 83-65 | 16-8 (6-5) | Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/17/1988 no, no | | Ohio State | W 118-86 | 17-8 (7-5) | Assembly Hall (14,587) Champaign, IL |
| 2/21/1988 no, no | | Wisconsin | W 85-65 | 18-8 (8-5) | Assembly Hall (16,348) Champaign, IL |
| 2/25/1988 no, no | | at No. 2 Purdue | L 79-93 | 18-9 (8-6) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/29/1988 no, no | | at Indiana Rivalry | W 75-65 | 19-9 (9-6) | Assembly Hall (16,233) Bloomington, IN |
| 3/6/1988 no, no | | No. 11 Iowa Rivalry | W 94-81 | 20-9 (10-6) | Assembly Hall (16,538) Champaign, IL |
| 3/9/1988 no, no | No. 19 | Michigan | W 85-74 | 21-9 (11-6) | Assembly Hall (16,605) Champaign, IL |
| 3/12/1988 no, no | No. 19 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 79-74 | 22-9 (12-6) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| 3/18/1988* no, no | (3 S) No. 16 | vs. (14 S) Texas-San Antonio First Round | W 81-72 | 23-9 | Riverfront Coliseum (16,562) Cincinnati, OH |
| 3/20/1988* no, no | (3 S) No. 16 | vs. (6 S) Villanova Second Round | L 63-66 | 23-10 | Riverfront Coliseum (16,562) Cincinnati, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Minutes Played | 2 pt. Field Goals | 3 pt. Field Goals | Free Throws | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | Points |
| Nick Anderson | 33 | 909 | 221 | 2 | 77 | 217 | 53 | 28 | 37 | 525 |
| Kenny Battle | 33 | 1027 | 197 | 0 | 122 | 183 | 55 | 10 | 72 | 516 |
| Glynn Blackwell | 33 | 822 | 143 | 10 | 83 | 111 | 78 | 1 | 40 | 399 |
| Kendall Gill | 33 | 946 | 107 | 21 | 67 | 73 | 138 | 3 | 65 | 344 |
| Lowell Hamilton | 33 | 627 | 140 | 1 | 48 | 127 | 9 | 19 | 14 | 331 |
| Stephen Bardo | 33 | 820 | 77 | 3 | 53 | 138 | 125 | 7 | 41 | 216 |
| Jens Kujawa | 33 | 719 | 69 | 0 | 38 | 171 | 34 | 29 | 17 | 176 |
| Larry Smith | 31 | 403 | 45 | 2 | 41 | 37 | 80 | 1 | 19 | 133 |
| Phil Kunz | 26 | 195 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 41 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 41 |
| Ervin Small | 24 | 98 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 36 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 26 |
| Mark Shapland | 6 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Bryan Brickner | 5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Travis Smith | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike MacDonald | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Manzke | 6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Starnes | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Kendall Gill
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
* Nick Anderson
** Team Co-Most Valuable Player
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
* Kenny Battle
** Team Co-Most Valuable Player
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |