# 1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

Illinois finished ninth in the Big Ten going went 8-18 overall. Gene Bartow took over the team as head coach. Brought to Illinois to continue the magical rebuilding jobs he had undertaken at Valparaiso and Memphis State, Gene Bartow was counted on by Athletic Director Cecil Coleman to restore the successful level of play fans had become accustomed to in the past few decades. However, Bartow’s stay in Champaign was short-lived, lasting only one year. The lure away from Illinois was a strong one for Bartow; he was hired away by UCLA to replace legendary Bruin coach John Wooden.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 12/3/1974* no, no | Valparaiso | W 69-58 | 1 - 0 | Assembly Hall (5,990) Champaign, IL |
| 12/7/1974* no, no | DePauw | W 96-53 | 2 - 0 | Assembly Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 12/9/1974* no, no | at Iowa State | W 77-71 | 3 - 0 | Hilton Coliseum (7,500) Ames, IA |
| 12/13/1974* no, no | No. 17 Arizona Fiesta Bowl Classic | L 66-78 | 3 - 1 | McKale Center (11,574) Tucson, AZ |
| 12/14/1974* no, no | Arizona State Fiesta Bowl Classic | L 69-91 | 3 - 2 | Wells Fargo Arena (8,136) Tempe, AZ |
| 12/27/1974* no, no | Stanford Lobo Invitational Tournament | L 76-89 | 3 - 3 | The Pit (14,163) Albuquerque, NM |
| 12/28/1974* no, no | Army Lobo Invitational Tournament | W 79-70 | 4 - 3 | The Pit (14,831) Albuquerque, NM |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/2/1975 no, no | No. 17 Michigan | L 84-86 $^{2OT}$ | 4 - 4 (0 - 1) | Assembly Hall (6,608) Champaign, IL |
| 1/4/1975 no, no | at Iowa Rivalry | L 70-95 | 4 - 5 (0 - 2) | Iowa Field House (9,800) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/6/1975 no, no | at Minnesota | L 47-75 | 4 - 6 (0 - 3) | Williams Arena (17,573) Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/11/1975 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | W 64-60 | 5 - 6 (1 - 3 )) | Assembly Hall (6,009) Champaign, IL |
| 1/13/1975 no, no | Wisconsin | W 72-56 | 6 - 6 (2 - 3) | Assembly Hall (6,117) Champaign, IL |
| 1/18/1975 no, no | Purdue | L 67-86 | 6 - 7 (2 - 4) | Assembly Hall (9,493) Champaign, IL |
| 1/23/1975* no, no | Tulane | L 69-81 | 6 - 8 | Assembly Hall (7,107) Champaign, IL |
| 1/25/1975 no, no | at Ohio State | W 66-62 | 7 - 8 (3 - 4) | St. John Arena (8,778) Columbus, OH |
| 1/27/1975 no, no | at No. 1 Indiana Rivalry | L 57-73 | 7 - 9 (3 - 5) | Assembly Hall (17,581) Bloomington, IN |
| 2/1/1975 no, no | Michigan State | L 60-75 | 7 - 10 (3 - 6) | Assembly Hall (8,327) Champaign, IL |
| 2/3/1975 no, no | Minnesota | L 50-56 | 7 - 11 (3 - 7) | Assembly Hall (7,720) Champaign, IL |
| 2/8/1975 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | L 47-51 | 7 - 12 (3 - 8) | McGaw Memorial Hall (4,007) Evanston, IL |
| 2/10/1975 no, no | at Wisconsin | L 70-76 | 7 - 13 (3 - 9) | Wisconsin Field House (4,492) Madison, WI |
| 2/15/1975 no, no | at Purdue | L 91-114 | 7 - 14 (3 - 10) | Mackey Arena (13,936) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/22/1975 no, no | Ohio State | W 83-78 $^{OT}$ | 8 - 14 (4 - 10) | Assembly Hall (9,192) Champaign, IL |
| 2/24/1975 no, no | No. 1 Indiana Rivalry | L 89-112 | 8 - 15 (4 - 11) | Assembly Hall (14,127) Champaign, IL |
| 3/1/1975 no, no | at Michigan State | L 82-96 | 8 - 16 (4 - 12) | Jenison Fieldhouse (4,851) East Lansing, MI |
| 3/3/1975 no, no | at Michigan | L 75-77 | 8 - 17 (4 - 13) | Crisler Center (6,309) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 3/8/1975 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | L 70-73 | 8 - 18 (4 - 14) | Assembly Hall (9,171) Champaign, 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 | Assists | Points |
| Rick Schmidt | 26 | 190 | 144 | 139 | 73 | 524 |
| Otho Tucker | 24 | 114 | 54 | 78 | 72 | 282 |
| Nate Williams | 24 | 107 | 42 | 55 | 71 | 256 |
| Mike Washington | 26 | 84 | 38 | 126 | 27 | 206 |
| Rich Adams | 26 | 50 | 33 | 107 | 19 | 133 |
| Tom Carmichael | 26 | 54 | 23 | 127 | 31 | 131 |
| Audi Matthews | 26 | 41 | 18 | 87 | 19 | 100 |
| Brad Farnham | 21 | 19 | 22 | 52 | 13 | 60 |
| Howie Johnson | 20 | 25 | 5 | 19 | 39 | 55 |
| Dave Roberts | 11 | 20 | 11 | 17 | 12 | 41 |
| Bill Rucks | 16 | 10 | 8 | 19 | 2 | 28 |
| Tim Bushell | 11 | 20 | 11 | 17 | 12 | 51 |
| Tom Gerhardt | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Rick Leighty | 9 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 4 |
| Dave Smith | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Rick Schmidt
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American
** Team Most Valuable Player

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Rick Schmidt | New Orleans Jazz | 6 | 91 |